WEBVTT

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I'm so glad to be here. I'm glad you're here.

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I'm excited tonight that we're going to continue

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in our series of lessons about restoring New

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Testament Christianity. If you were here yesterday,

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you remember we talked about as the people of

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God, we need to cultivate a mission mindset.

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And part of that mindset needs to be to be about

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the work of helping restore the church that Jesus

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built. And yesterday afternoon, we talked about

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how we really have no hope. in accomplishing

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that mission if we don't trust the Scriptures

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as our sole source of authority in religion.

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And we're going to continue along in this vein

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of investigating and looking into the great need

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that we have today and the desire we should have

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in our hearts to go back to the Bible, to find

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our faith, to find our doctrine, to find our

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practice in the Scriptures. And we do all that,

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of course, to the honor and glory of that Lamb

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of God that we sang about tonight, Jesus Christ.

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It's all to His glory that we do it. I encourage

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you to come back throughout this meeting as often

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as you can. You see there on the screen that

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we're going to have several more meetings. We're

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going to be meeting every night at 7 o 'clock

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this week, 10 .30 and 2 o 'clock on Sunday. And

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these are some of the topics that we're going

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to be covering in the course of this series.

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The title of my lesson tonight comes in the form

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of a statement, a true statement, combined with

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a question. And the true statement is this, Jesus

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built one church. And we're going to see that

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from the scriptures in just a moment. If Jesus

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built one church, if that statement is true and

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it is, the question then becomes for us today,

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how do we find the church that Jesus built. How

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would we go out into our community, into whatever

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region of the world we live in, and how would

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we go about finding today, in 2026, that one

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and the same church that Jesus built. That's

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what we're going to study and focus on tonight.

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And I want to go back and remind you of some

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things that are so very important for us to know

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and understand. Want to go all the way back to

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the book of Daniel okay in the Old Testament

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the prophet Daniel remember God's people were

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in Babylon and Daniel a Jew was a servant of

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King Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar had dreams

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and Nebuchadnezzar didn't understand his dreams

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and and he was troubled by his dreams and so

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He comes to Daniel and Daniel by the power of

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God is able to tell him his dream and tell him

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the interpretation of his dream. And in the process

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of Daniel explaining the interpretation of the

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king's dream, he makes a prophecy. In Daniel

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2 .44 he says, in these days, the days of the

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kings of that fourth world empire that Daniel

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speaks about, in the days of those kings shall

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the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall

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never be destroyed. and the kingdom shall not

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be left to other people, but it shall break in

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pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it

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shall stand forever." God promised, through the

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interpretation of this dream, 600 years before

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Christ, that He would someday set up an everlasting

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kingdom. Now fast forward 600 years. to the life

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of Christ. Jesus has just been baptized by John

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in the River Jordan in Matthew chapter 3. And

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in Matthew chapter 4 he's tempted of the devil,

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40 days in the wilderness. And then Jesus begins

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his teaching ministry, his public preaching ministry

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in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17. And I want you

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to notice what was the first thing that Jesus

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taught and he preached. In Matthew 4 17 it says

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from that time Jesus began to preach and to say

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repent. Why? He said for the kingdom of heaven

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is at hand that kingdom that Daniel had prophesied

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about 600 years before Jesus says you need to

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get ready You need to repent because that very

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kingdom the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It

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is nearby It is soon to come You know when Jesus

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was on trial before Pilate he said some things

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about the kingdom that are important for us to

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understand These statements that Jesus made to

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Pilate while he was on trial help us understand

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the nature of this everlasting kingdom in John

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18 36 Jesus told Pilate the Roman governor. He

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said my kingdom is not of this world My kingdom

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is not of this world if my kingdom were of this

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world, then would my servants fight? That I should

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not be delivered to the Jews But now is my kingdom

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not from hints Jesus says You know Jesus didn't

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come to set up a worldly kingdom, an earthly

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empire. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom.

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It's important for us to understand the nature

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of this kingdom, this everlasting kingdom. It's

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a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom.

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Also something Jesus taught during his teaching

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ministry. He made a promise to Peter about this

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kingdom in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Peter

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made a confession that Jesus was the Christ,

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the Son of the living God. And Jesus blessed

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Peter for that confession. And Jesus told Peter,

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I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. And

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upon this rock I will build my church and the

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gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against

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it. That's Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Jesus

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made a promise here that he would build his church.

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Then notice what he told Peter immediately after

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making this promise to build his church He tells

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Peter I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom

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of heaven What we understand from this verse

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we see Jesus using the word church and kingdom

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interchangeably and that's because the church

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is the earthly expression or manifestation of

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this heavenly spiritual everlasting kingdom That

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God promised to set up in the days of the Roman

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Empire in the days in which Jesus lived died,

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was buried, and rose from the dead. The church

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is the earthly expression of that spiritual kingdom.

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Now before we go any further, we see Jesus using

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the word church there in Matthew 16 verse 18.

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We need to understand clearly what the word church

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means. We don't want to have a misunderstanding

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about what the church means if we're going to

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be talking about and studying the church. The

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word church from our English King James Version

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of our Bibles comes from an ancient Greek word

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and that Greek word is ecclesia. The ancient

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Greek word that is translated church in our New

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Testament is the Greek word ecclesia and the

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Greek word ecclesia simply means the called out.

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The called out. That's the most basic definition

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of this Greek word Ecclesia translated church

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in our New Testaments. The church is all of God's

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called out people. All of God's called out people.

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That's what the church really is. What have we

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as God's people been called out of? Well first

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we've been called out of sin and we've been called

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into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ

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through the gospel. And when people are called

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out of sin through the gospel into salvation,

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they become a part of the church. God's called

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out people. God's people are also called out

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of the world and into this spiritual kingdom

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that we're talking about tonight. God's people

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have also been called out of the darkness of

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sin and error and been called into the light

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of Christ and the truth that he brings to us.

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So this is what it means to be the called out.

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We've been called out of something very terrible

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and very damning and we've been called into something

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very wonderful and amazing and To be part of

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this called out people is what it truly means

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to be a part of the church That's what the church

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literally means now from this definition of the

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word church We can see and understand that the

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church is really not the building, right? Now

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God's called out people can meet and assemble

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in a building Right, but the church is not the

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building Church is really not the building also

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church is not the service or the exercises of

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our worship assembly Sometimes people use the

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word church that way they say well on Sundays

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we go do church Church is really not something

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you do. Okay now you can go and assemble with

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the church and you can worship God But the worship

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we offer up to God the exercises of our assemblies.

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That's not really church though it involves us

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as the people of God coming together to worship.

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When you hear the word church, we need to be

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thinking about people. We need to be thinking

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about people. We need to be thinking about God's

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people, people He has called out of sin into

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a saving relationship with Him through His Son

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Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus paid a high price. As

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Brother Les mentioned in his prayer tonight,

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he paid a high price to purchase the church.

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Jesus had to die to purchase the church. Jesus

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was buried and he was resurrected and all that

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was a part of God's plan to save us and to purchase

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the church. In Acts 20 and 28 this is something

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that Paul mentions to the elders of the church

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at Ephesus. He tells those elders to take heed

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unto themselves and to all the flock over which

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the Holy Ghost had made them overseers and he

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tells those elders to feed. to shepherd the church

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of God. And notice what he says about the church

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of God, which he had purchased. Jesus purchased

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that church with his own blood. Jesus paid the

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highest price imaginable. He made the ultimate

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sacrifice. He laid down his life. He willingly

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went to a cross and subjected himself to all

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that torture, all that pain, all that humility.

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He did all that as the book of Hebrews says for

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the joy that was set before him He saw on the

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other side of the cross that his father would

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be true to the promise to raise him up and to

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set him on a throne at the right hand of God

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and give him the kingdom and Allow him to be

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the head over this body this church that we're

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talking about tonight We need to understand that

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a very high price was paced by Jesus himself

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to purchase the church The resurrected Jesus

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is the one who has been given all authority over

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all things pertaining to the church You remember

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after his death burial and resurrection in Matthew

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chapter 28 verse 18 Jesus appeared in resurrected

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form to his disciples and he said Gee, the Bible

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says in Matthew 28 18 Jesus came and spake unto

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them saying all power Jesus said all power is

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given unto me in heaven and in earth The resurrected

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Jesus was given all power, all authority in heaven

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and in earth. And because of this, Jesus is the

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head of this church that we're talking about

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today, this spiritual kingdom. You know, the

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church was very important to Christ. This kingdom

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was very important, so important that Jesus then

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went on to spend 40 days with His apostles, teaching

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them things about that coming kingdom. In Acts

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chapter 1, these are the days, counting down

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the days leading up to when Jesus would build

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His church in Acts 2. The Bible says that He

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spent 40 days with them, speaking of the things

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pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now, at this

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point I want to stop right here and I want us

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to consider everything we've seen from the scriptures

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tonight. What is it teaching us and what is it

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telling us about the church? It's telling us

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that Jesus is the one who announced the coming

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of the kingdom. It's telling us that He taught

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a lot about the kingdom. It's telling us that

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Jesus promised to build His church. He claimed

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that church. He called it My church. The Bible

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tells us He shed His blood to purchase that church.

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He was given all authority over it and He prepared

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the Apostles for its coming. Now based on these

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facts that we've seen from Scripture, Do you

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think any man has any right whatsoever to claim

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a position or usurp the authority of Jesus to

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be the head of the church? If Jesus did all this

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for the church, I believe he's the only rightful

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one who deserves to be the head of the church,

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don't you? In fact, that's what Colossians 1

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and 18 says, that he is the head of the body,

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the church. No man. Just Jesus. No man died.

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No other human being died for the church. No

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other human being claimed the church, said it

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was my church. No other human promised to build

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it. No one taught as much about it as Jesus did.

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No one else was given authority over it but Christ

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alone. And no man. Living today who has ever

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lived or ever will live no man has any right

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to claim Authority and to be the head of the

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church and I want to tell you something else.

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No man I don't care who he is has any right to

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found some organization and build it up to Compete

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with the church that Jesus built and to be like

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an alternative form of that church You've got

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Jesus's church, and then you got a church that

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some man built No, man has any right to do that

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to come along after Jesus, after He's already

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built His church and raise up another religious

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organization and say this is my church, this

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is my group. You can be a part of the Lord's

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church or you can come to be a part of my church,

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my man -made church. No man has any right to

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do that because Jesus and Him alone has been

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given authority over all things pertaining to

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the church. He is the head of that body. Now

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I want to go back to Matthew 16 18 and and notice

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something that's so very important When Jesus

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promised to build his church, he only promised

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to build one church He only promised to build

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one church in Matthew 16 18 He told Peter I will

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build my church and the word church is singular

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Jesus didn't say Peter. I'm gonna build many

00:14:44.049 --> 00:14:48.710
different churches Peter didn't Jesus didn't

00:14:48.710 --> 00:14:51.090
tell Peter that. He didn't promise to build multiple

00:14:51.090 --> 00:14:55.230
churches, but only one. In Acts chapter 2, when

00:14:55.230 --> 00:14:58.230
Jesus did build his church, we find that those

00:14:58.230 --> 00:15:01.549
baptized believers were added to only one church.

00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:05.129
In Acts chapter 2, Peter and the apostles preach

00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:07.029
the gospel. They preach the death, burial, and

00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:09.129
resurrection of Jesus. They tell them to repent

00:15:09.129 --> 00:15:11.409
and be baptized. And if they would, God would

00:15:11.409 --> 00:15:12.929
forgive them of their sins and give them the

00:15:12.929 --> 00:15:15.470
gift of the Holy Spirit. And then Acts 2 .41

00:15:15.470 --> 00:15:17.610
says, they that gladly received His word, those

00:15:17.610 --> 00:15:20.250
who gladly received the preaching of the gospel,

00:15:21.289 --> 00:15:23.490
they were baptized, just like Peter commanded

00:15:23.490 --> 00:15:26.350
them to do. And it says the same day, at that

00:15:26.350 --> 00:15:29.960
very time, There were added unto them about 3

00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.960
,000 souls. 3 ,000 people heard the gospel, believed

00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.940
it, obeyed it in baptism, and they were added

00:15:35.940 --> 00:15:38.820
to something. What were they added to? They were

00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:41.019
added to this one church that Jesus promised

00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:43.779
to build. We skip now just six more verses in

00:15:43.779 --> 00:15:46.860
Acts 2 .47. It says that these 3 ,000 were praising

00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:49.340
God and having favor with all the people and

00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:53.529
the Lord added to the church daily. such as should

00:15:53.529 --> 00:15:55.710
be saved. The Bible doesn't say that the Lord

00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:59.429
added these three thousands into multiple different

00:15:59.429 --> 00:16:02.350
divided denominations. It doesn't say that the

00:16:02.350 --> 00:16:05.929
Lord added them to many different churches. It

00:16:05.929 --> 00:16:08.230
says the Lord added them to the church. That

00:16:08.230 --> 00:16:11.970
word church is singular. Because just like Jesus

00:16:11.970 --> 00:16:15.049
promised in Matthew 16 to only build one church,

00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:17.509
when it came time to build it, guess what Jesus

00:16:17.509 --> 00:16:19.850
did? He was true to His promise. He built just

00:16:19.850 --> 00:16:23.490
one church. And we keep reading through the rest

00:16:23.490 --> 00:16:25.649
in the New Testament about that church and you

00:16:25.649 --> 00:16:27.990
read through the rest of the book of Acts and

00:16:27.990 --> 00:16:30.450
you see how it grew into the far reaches of the

00:16:30.450 --> 00:16:33.490
Roman Empire. One of the places it grew to be

00:16:33.490 --> 00:16:36.149
was in the city of Ephesus in modern -day Turkey.

00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:39.389
Paul wrote a letter, an epistle, to the church

00:16:39.389 --> 00:16:42.049
at Ephesus, to the congregation there. And listen

00:16:42.049 --> 00:16:44.990
to what Paul told him. He told the baptized believers,

00:16:45.070 --> 00:16:47.970
the Christians in Ephesus, Ephesians 4 -4, he

00:16:47.970 --> 00:16:52.259
said there is one body. One body. And we know

00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:54.820
what the body is. Colossians 1 .18 says he is

00:16:54.820 --> 00:16:56.940
the head of the body, the church. The church

00:16:56.940 --> 00:16:59.179
is the body and the body is the church. It's

00:16:59.179 --> 00:17:03.240
the body of Christ. And Paul told the Ephesians

00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:05.599
there is one body. Paul didn't say there are

00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.519
many different bodies. He said there is one body,

00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.140
just like there is one spirit, even as we are

00:17:13.140 --> 00:17:15.740
called in one hope of our calling. Just like

00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:18.970
there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One

00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:21.450
God and Father of all who is above all and through

00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:23.829
all and in you to all. As sure as there's just

00:17:23.829 --> 00:17:26.289
one God, one Father, one Lord faith baptism,

00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:29.269
the New Testament teaches there's only one body

00:17:29.269 --> 00:17:36.589
because Jesus only built one church. So in Acts

00:17:36.589 --> 00:17:42.319
chapter 2, in Jerusalem on Pentecost day, We

00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.700
understand that that is the day that is the time

00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:47.799
that is the occasion upon which Jesus built his

00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:50.819
church, but let's let's fast forward to today

00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:55.680
It's good to understand these things of the past,

00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:58.240
but we want to talk about what's going on today

00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.160
Why are there so many different churches today?

00:18:03.140 --> 00:18:05.539
When we read these verses about Jesus building

00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.599
one church and the baptized believers were added

00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:11.059
to one church and Paul said there's one body

00:18:11.309 --> 00:18:16.390
It seems so plain, it seems so clear, but we

00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:18.730
look around us today and we see the furthest

00:18:18.730 --> 00:18:22.349
thing from one church, right? We look around

00:18:22.349 --> 00:18:24.569
us today, we survey the religious landscape,

00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:27.230
and we see that there are many, many, many different

00:18:27.230 --> 00:18:31.069
churches around us, right? And this is evidenced

00:18:31.069 --> 00:18:33.849
by the fact that a lot of these churches we see

00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:38.309
around us, they wear different names. Many different

00:18:38.309 --> 00:18:43.279
names, right? many different churches wearing

00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.380
many different names. That's just a sample of

00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:49.660
some of the names of churches that we commonly

00:18:49.660 --> 00:18:52.839
see around us today. And not only do the churches

00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:55.220
we see around us today wear different names,

00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:59.640
they also teach different doctrines. They teach

00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:01.420
different doctrines. They teach different things

00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:04.380
about salvation. One church will tell you you

00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:06.339
need to do this to be saved and you go to the

00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:08.299
next church It says no you need to do this to

00:19:08.299 --> 00:19:10.539
be saved and you go to the next church. It says

00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:12.740
no No, here's what you need to do to be saved

00:19:12.740 --> 00:19:17.099
you go to one church and they say This is what

00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:20.299
you need to do to be able to take communion and

00:19:20.299 --> 00:19:22.019
you go to the next church and they have a whole

00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:24.720
different set of criteria one church says that

00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:26.920
We shouldn't have women preachers in the church.

00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:28.799
The other church says well, that's okay. That's

00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.160
fine We've got a woman preacher and the list

00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:35.759
goes on and on all the different practices, all

00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.079
the different teachings. They preach different

00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.680
Gospels. They preach different plans of salvation.

00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:48.319
This is the sad but true reality of the religious

00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:52.839
world that we see around us today. And it behooves

00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:57.730
us to ask the question, how did we ever go from

00:19:57.730 --> 00:20:00.650
that one church Jesus built in Jerusalem in 33

00:20:00.650 --> 00:20:03.809
AD in Acts chapter 2. How did we ever go to this?

00:20:04.430 --> 00:20:07.089
How did that happen? Have you ever wondered that?

00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:13.369
How did we go from here to what we see today?

00:20:13.450 --> 00:20:16.190
Where did all this religious division come from?

00:20:18.470 --> 00:20:20.990
That's the question I want to focus in on for

00:20:20.990 --> 00:20:23.569
the next few minutes and I hope you listen very

00:20:23.569 --> 00:20:27.539
carefully. As I talk about some of these things

00:20:27.539 --> 00:20:30.119
and share some of these things with you, you

00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.859
don't need to fear. It's easy to explain. The

00:20:33.859 --> 00:20:36.460
last 2 ,000 years of religious division, we've

00:20:36.460 --> 00:20:39.480
got these very clear, very simple flow charts

00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:43.240
which explain how we went from the one church

00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:46.140
Jesus built down through the ages and through

00:20:46.140 --> 00:20:48.839
the divisions and here, there, and everywhere,

00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:52.940
and we end up over here and come back down here.

00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:03.380
I'm trying to be funny, but in all honesty, that's

00:21:03.380 --> 00:21:07.859
really not funny, is it? That's a reality. These

00:21:07.859 --> 00:21:11.720
are actual diagrams that people have created

00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:15.480
to try to make sense of the complicated mess

00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:18.900
that we have around us today in the form of all

00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:20.859
this religious division. They've created these

00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:25.690
to try to help make sense of it. It might take

00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:28.849
a college degree to ever have a hope of making

00:21:28.849 --> 00:21:33.990
sense of that. How did it ever come to be that

00:21:33.990 --> 00:21:37.269
way? The truth of the matter is this, if we were

00:21:37.269 --> 00:21:43.009
to be honest, if we were to be honest, if we

00:21:43.009 --> 00:21:44.970
would look around we would have to admit that

00:21:44.970 --> 00:21:50.089
we are drowning in a vast ocean of religious

00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:57.500
confusion and division. That's the truth now

00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:00.940
Some people with all due respect everybody's

00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.140
got a different idea a different opinion and

00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.440
some people have an idea or an opinion I talked

00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:08.480
to an individual a few years ago had a really

00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:10.960
good conversation with him He has a different

00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:13.500
view or opinion than me his view and his opinion

00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:16.980
is that it's actually good It's actually a good

00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:19.039
thing that we have so many different churches

00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.039
to choose from and here's his way of thinking

00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:25.140
He said, you know, it's great when a town has

00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:28.279
12 different churches because what that means

00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:31.200
is you move into that town and you go visit all

00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.720
12 churches and you find that church that fits

00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:38.440
your own unique personality. You find that one

00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.759
church that lines up with who you are as an individual,

00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:45.559
that does the things you like, that appreciates

00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.599
the things you appreciate. You go find that church

00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:52.930
that fits you. And the more options you have

00:22:52.930 --> 00:22:54.609
to choose from, right? It's kind of like going

00:22:54.609 --> 00:22:57.950
to a fast food restaurant. We like options. The

00:22:57.950 --> 00:23:00.750
more options you have to choose from, in his

00:23:00.750 --> 00:23:02.529
mind, he says, well, that's just all the better.

00:23:03.390 --> 00:23:08.269
Now, that is an idea. His articulation of that

00:23:08.269 --> 00:23:11.390
idea is the articulation of an idea that is not

00:23:11.390 --> 00:23:13.609
uncommon today in religion. And it's the idea

00:23:13.609 --> 00:23:17.150
or the ideology of what we call denominationalism.

00:23:18.609 --> 00:23:20.289
Denominationalism. That's probably going to be

00:23:20.289 --> 00:23:23.710
the longest word I say tonight. Denominationalism.

00:23:23.750 --> 00:23:26.710
It's kind of hard to say. What is denominationalism?

00:23:28.269 --> 00:23:29.970
Denominationalism is the idea that we're going

00:23:29.970 --> 00:23:32.250
to take the church that Jesus built and we're

00:23:32.250 --> 00:23:34.210
going to divide it up into all these different

00:23:34.210 --> 00:23:38.670
groups and then name each religious group. Divide

00:23:38.670 --> 00:23:41.789
and name. And that's what we've done in Christianity

00:23:41.789 --> 00:23:44.769
over the last 2 ,000 years. We've taken the one

00:23:44.769 --> 00:23:48.390
church Jesus built and we've divided it up into

00:23:48.390 --> 00:23:50.730
hundreds and thousands of different groups and

00:23:50.730 --> 00:23:54.890
given them all their respective names. And the

00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:57.150
names are important because they set that group

00:23:57.150 --> 00:24:00.769
apart from all the other groups to divide in

00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:03.930
name. It's the idea that Jesus, yes, did build

00:24:03.930 --> 00:24:07.089
one big church and this one big church Jesus

00:24:07.089 --> 00:24:09.869
built is made up of all these many different

00:24:09.869 --> 00:24:13.490
denominations. That's the idea, the ideology

00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:18.279
of denominationalism. I'm here to tell you folks,

00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:21.940
listen, with all due respect to people who hold

00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:25.220
to this ideology, brothers and sisters, friends,

00:24:25.299 --> 00:24:28.859
I believe that this is one of the biggest religious

00:24:28.859 --> 00:24:34.119
lies that may have been told in our time. This

00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:37.819
idea that it's a good thing that we have so much

00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:40.319
religious division. It's a good thing we have

00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:43.259
20 different churches teaching 20 different doctrines

00:24:43.259 --> 00:24:47.119
that just confuses people. discourages people

00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.839
and frustrates people who are actually seeking

00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:52.339
to find the truth and find the church Jesus built.

00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.240
The idea that that is somehow a good thing. That

00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:01.160
is a religious lie and it's terrible. It's a

00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:04.720
terrible lie. I want to show you that from the

00:25:04.720 --> 00:25:06.799
scriptures tonight. You know, one of the verses

00:25:06.799 --> 00:25:09.500
that people commonly go to when they're advancing

00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:11.799
the idea of denominationalism is 1 Corinthians

00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:15.059
12 12. So let's go look at... let's be good students

00:25:15.059 --> 00:25:17.400
of the Bible. Let's honestly and earnestly consider

00:25:17.400 --> 00:25:20.019
what the Bible says. Let's look at 1 Corinthians

00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:23.880
12 12 and let's see if it teaches this idea of

00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:26.859
denominationalism. 1 Corinthians 12 12. Paul

00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:32.200
said, For as the body is one and hath many members...

00:25:32.410 --> 00:25:35.589
and all the members of that one body being many

00:25:35.589 --> 00:25:40.349
are one body, he says, so also is Christ. Now

00:25:40.349 --> 00:25:43.809
the interpretation of this verse is that, see,

00:25:44.009 --> 00:25:46.309
the Bible teaches there is one body, Jesus built

00:25:46.309 --> 00:25:49.009
one church, and that one body, one church is

00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:53.869
made up of many different denominations. Now,

00:25:54.190 --> 00:25:58.509
to start with, that's not what the verse says,

00:25:58.529 --> 00:26:02.480
is it? That's not what the verse says. Does the

00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.160
Bible say that there's one body made up of many

00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:08.160
different denominations? It says there's one

00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:11.140
body made up of many different members, but we've

00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:13.599
got to be able to correctly identify and interpret

00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:16.200
who the members are and we'll do that momentarily.

00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:18.880
So number one, this scripture does not teach

00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.400
there's one body made up of many different denominations.

00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:24.099
It doesn't say that and it doesn't teach that.

00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:28.359
Denominationalism is not the will of God. And

00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:31.880
here's why we know that. When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians

00:26:31.880 --> 00:26:35.180
12 .12, when he wrote there's one body made up

00:26:35.180 --> 00:26:36.799
of many different members, when he wrote that

00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:38.779
to the church of Corinth, do you know how many

00:26:38.779 --> 00:26:43.839
denominations existed at that time? Zero. There's

00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:45.960
no way Paul was writing about one body made up

00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.480
of many different denominations because no denominations

00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:51.259
existed at the time. In fact, most denominations

00:26:51.259 --> 00:26:55.170
would not exist for another 1 ,500 years. So

00:26:55.170 --> 00:26:57.769
we know for a fact he wasn't saying that the

00:26:57.769 --> 00:27:00.490
members there in that passage are denominations.

00:27:03.609 --> 00:27:07.170
In 1 Corinthians 4 17, we find that what Paul

00:27:07.170 --> 00:27:09.589
taught in one church, he taught in every church.

00:27:10.269 --> 00:27:12.490
That's something that denominationalism really

00:27:12.490 --> 00:27:16.190
won't allow for. We live in a divided religious

00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:19.549
world. I'm not so sure I could go to every church

00:27:19.549 --> 00:27:22.130
in McMinnville and teach the same message. I

00:27:22.130 --> 00:27:24.369
could try, but I'm not sure that message would

00:27:24.369 --> 00:27:27.509
be accepted in every church. But in the first

00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:29.990
century, Paul taught the same thing in every

00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:32.410
church, and the churches accepted his teaching.

00:27:32.710 --> 00:27:35.890
1 Corinthians 4 .17, Paul said, For this cause

00:27:35.890 --> 00:27:37.910
I've sent unto you Timotheus, that's Timothy,

00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:40.470
who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways

00:27:40.470 --> 00:27:44.170
which be in Christ, as I teach, Paul says, everywhere

00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:48.440
in every church. Paul taught the same thing everywhere

00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.640
in every church. But we don't see churches today

00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:53.960
teaching the same thing. We don't see them teaching

00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:56.000
the same doctrines. We don't see them preaching

00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:59.720
the same gospel. Paul commanded the same things

00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:04.380
in every church in 1 Corinthians 7, 17. He says,

00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:07.140
but as God has distributed to every man, as the

00:28:07.140 --> 00:28:09.259
Lord hath called every one, so let him walk.

00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:13.640
Paul says, as I ordain or as I command in all

00:28:13.640 --> 00:28:17.150
churches. Paul didn't have one ordinance for

00:28:17.150 --> 00:28:20.670
this church at Corinth and then a different ordinance

00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:23.690
for the church at Philippi and then a completely

00:28:23.690 --> 00:28:25.829
different contradictory command for the church

00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:29.529
at Ephesus. He didn't ordain and command different

00:28:29.529 --> 00:28:31.730
things in different churches. He ordained and

00:28:31.730 --> 00:28:33.890
commanded the same things in all the churches.

00:28:34.349 --> 00:28:36.589
Paul gave the same orders, the same instruction

00:28:36.589 --> 00:28:39.130
to all the churches concerning the collection

00:28:39.130 --> 00:28:41.250
on the first day of the week. Now concerning

00:28:41.250 --> 00:28:43.150
the collection for the saints, as I've given

00:28:43.150 --> 00:28:45.309
order to the churches of Galatia, Paul says,

00:28:45.829 --> 00:28:50.069
even so do ye. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 1. Paul

00:28:50.069 --> 00:28:51.990
says, I'm going to tell you all what you need

00:28:51.990 --> 00:28:54.549
to do concerning this collection for the needy

00:28:54.549 --> 00:28:57.029
saints. And by the way, I'm just telling you

00:28:57.029 --> 00:28:59.309
to do the same thing I told the churches in Galatia

00:28:59.309 --> 00:29:02.970
to do. He taught the same thing. He gave the

00:29:02.970 --> 00:29:05.529
same orders, the same commands in all the churches.

00:29:09.569 --> 00:29:13.630
Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 .12. The claim

00:29:13.630 --> 00:29:16.049
was that there is one body, one church made up

00:29:16.049 --> 00:29:18.490
of many different members, which are denominations.

00:29:18.890 --> 00:29:20.990
The members here are not denominations. If the

00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:23.430
members are not denominations, who are the many

00:29:23.430 --> 00:29:27.569
members in 1 Corinthians 12 .12? It's not denominational

00:29:27.569 --> 00:29:31.460
churches. It's individual Christians. You gotta

00:29:31.460 --> 00:29:33.720
remember, Paul wrote this letter. It was an epistle.

00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:36.480
It was to a church at Corinth. That church was

00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:39.380
made up of what? Christians. Baptized believers

00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:42.240
in Christ. Later on in the chapter, if you read

00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.200
down just a few verses, look at what Paul tells

00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:48.480
them. He says, now ye, who's ye? The Corinthians

00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:51.640
that he wrote to. Baptized believers in Christ.

00:29:51.660 --> 00:29:54.339
He said, now ye are the body of Christ. You're

00:29:54.339 --> 00:29:59.519
the church. And look, and members in particular.

00:29:59.950 --> 00:30:02.029
All we've got to do is be good students of the

00:30:02.029 --> 00:30:03.869
Bible. Read down a little further and the Bible

00:30:03.869 --> 00:30:06.950
will tell us who the members are. And it's not

00:30:06.950 --> 00:30:08.829
telling us that they're denominational churches.

00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:11.569
It's telling us that the members were individual

00:30:11.569 --> 00:30:14.569
Christians. Paul wrote to Christians in 1 Corinthians

00:30:14.569 --> 00:30:17.509
1 -2. The epistle was, Under the church of God

00:30:17.509 --> 00:30:20.490
which is at Corinth, to them, those people who

00:30:20.490 --> 00:30:23.029
were sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be

00:30:23.029 --> 00:30:28.440
saints. It was saved people. Christians, baptized

00:30:28.440 --> 00:30:30.579
believers that he wrote to and those are the

00:30:30.579 --> 00:30:34.119
members of that one body in 1st Corinthians 12

00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:38.539
12. Denominationalism is not the will of God

00:30:38.539 --> 00:30:40.440
and here's why we know it because Jesus prayed

00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:44.819
for unity of all believers. Jesus prayed for

00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:50.400
unity of all believers. I'm scared to think what

00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:54.660
Jesus thinks and feels about the religious division

00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:58.380
he sees in the world today. I'm scared to think

00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:02.599
about how he views it because I know he prayed

00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:06.779
a very intense and sincere prayer in John 17

00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:09.859
verse 20 to 21 where Jesus prayed to the Father.

00:31:10.059 --> 00:31:11.839
He poured out his heart and his soul to the Father.

00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:14.480
He said, neither pray I for these alone. He just

00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:17.920
prayed for his apostles. He says, but I'm praying

00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:20.200
for them also which shall believe on me through

00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:24.279
their word. He's praying for us. He's praying

00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:26.920
for every Christian who would follow. in the

00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:29.019
footsteps of the apostles. Those the apostles

00:31:29.019 --> 00:31:33.619
would reach with the gospel. And even the apostles'

00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:35.799
message has reached us even today through the

00:31:35.799 --> 00:31:37.920
written record and testimony of the New Testament.

00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.359
We've come to believe in Christ through their

00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:43.519
testimony. So if that's true, then Jesus is praying

00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:47.839
for us. And what does He pray for? He says that

00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:51.400
they all may be divided into 26 different denominations.

00:31:55.029 --> 00:31:59.789
That's not what Jesus prayed for. Jesus said

00:31:59.789 --> 00:32:03.849
that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art

00:32:03.849 --> 00:32:07.329
in me and I and thee, that they also may be one

00:32:07.329 --> 00:32:11.069
in us, that the world may believe that thou hast

00:32:11.069 --> 00:32:13.970
sent me. Jesus prays for all believers to be

00:32:13.970 --> 00:32:17.690
one. And that's how we know that this idea of

00:32:17.690 --> 00:32:19.910
dividing believers up into all these different

00:32:19.910 --> 00:32:21.809
churches doing different things is not the will

00:32:21.809 --> 00:32:26.029
of God. It's not what Jesus prayed for. We know

00:32:26.029 --> 00:32:28.269
denominationalism is not the will of God because

00:32:28.269 --> 00:32:31.769
Paul very clearly in his writings condemned religious

00:32:31.769 --> 00:32:34.509
division Corinth had a problem with the religious

00:32:34.509 --> 00:32:37.470
division had a lot of problems Very first problem

00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:39.650
Paul addresses was religious division, which

00:32:39.650 --> 00:32:41.549
I don't know that kind of tells me maybe that

00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:45.230
was the most important problem most serious problem

00:32:46.730 --> 00:32:49.829
1st Corinthians 1 11 it hath been declared unto

00:32:49.829 --> 00:32:52.750
me of you my brethren by them that are of the

00:32:52.750 --> 00:32:55.450
house of Chloe that there are contentions means

00:32:55.450 --> 00:32:58.670
divisions among you now this I say Paul says

00:32:58.670 --> 00:33:02.150
that every one of you saying I'm of Paul another

00:33:02.150 --> 00:33:05.309
person says I'm of Apollo's another says I'm

00:33:05.309 --> 00:33:08.269
of Cephas another says I'm of Christ is Christ

00:33:08.269 --> 00:33:11.690
divided he shouldn't be it's a rhetorical question

00:33:11.690 --> 00:33:16.170
he shouldn't be But they were dividing Christ

00:33:16.859 --> 00:33:19.660
With these attitudes, these mentalities of I

00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:22.819
follow Paul, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos.

00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:24.819
They were dividing Christ. Is Christ divided?

00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:27.220
He shouldn't be. Was Paul crucified for you?

00:33:27.380 --> 00:33:29.660
No. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Well,

00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:33.319
why are you saying I'm of Paul? It was Christ

00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:37.880
who died for you. You were baptized in the name

00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:40.059
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are you saying

00:33:40.059 --> 00:33:43.059
I'm of Paul? He's trying to help them see they

00:33:43.059 --> 00:33:45.220
all need to rally around Christ the one who died

00:33:45.220 --> 00:33:47.559
for them and not allow themselves to be divided

00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:51.039
up Following different men, but but that's part

00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:52.940
of what we see around us in the religious world

00:33:52.940 --> 00:33:56.259
today We see many different churches divided

00:33:56.259 --> 00:33:58.619
against each other following the ideas the island

00:33:58.619 --> 00:34:03.900
ideologies the traditions of men Denominationalism

00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.039
is not the will of God because the Bible tells

00:34:06.039 --> 00:34:08.519
us as God's people we should all speak the same

00:34:08.519 --> 00:34:12.619
things Paul told these Corinthians in the process

00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:15.760
of correcting that division that they had that

00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:18.599
that division that we just we just read about

00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:21.019
Paul said now I beseech you that word beseech

00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:26.260
means to beg he's he's begging him He's begging

00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:30.579
them He says I beseech you brethren that you

00:34:30.579 --> 00:34:34.780
all speak the same thing That there be no divisions

00:34:34.780 --> 00:34:38.699
among you, but that you be perfectly joined together

00:34:38.699 --> 00:34:42.579
in the same mind and in the same judgment. God

00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:46.480
calls us to unite in one body, not to divide

00:34:46.480 --> 00:34:49.219
the body up into many different man -made denominations.

00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:53.139
There's just no way around it. The teaching of

00:34:53.139 --> 00:34:56.179
Scripture is very clear. It's very simple. This

00:34:56.179 --> 00:34:59.059
is easy for us to understand that denominationalism

00:34:59.059 --> 00:35:01.219
is not the will of God. Yes, this is what we

00:35:01.219 --> 00:35:05.059
see around us today. But this was never God's

00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:08.500
plan for the church. Okay, given the fact that

00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:11.500
this is... These are the cards we've been dealt.

00:35:11.719 --> 00:35:15.920
This is what we have to deal with today. How

00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:19.599
do we go about finding the church that Jesus

00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:22.760
built amidst this ocean of religious confusion

00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:25.219
and division that the world is drowning in? How

00:35:25.219 --> 00:35:28.579
do we find the church Jesus built? If you were

00:35:28.579 --> 00:35:33.269
here yesterday, I used an illustration. of restoring

00:35:33.269 --> 00:35:35.869
the game of baseball we were talking about restoration

00:35:35.869 --> 00:35:38.510
returning things to their former original condition

00:35:38.510 --> 00:35:41.110
and I gave the illustration of restoring the

00:35:41.110 --> 00:35:46.809
game of baseball suppose I come from a foreign

00:35:46.809 --> 00:35:49.030
country to visit the United States and I don't

00:35:49.030 --> 00:35:51.929
know anything about baseball but I hear my American

00:35:51.929 --> 00:35:54.210
friends talking about baseball they all love

00:35:54.210 --> 00:35:57.170
baseball and and I want to learn about baseball

00:35:57.170 --> 00:35:59.960
and I want to watch people play baseball How

00:35:59.960 --> 00:36:02.420
would I go about finding the game of baseball

00:36:02.420 --> 00:36:05.480
in this country today without any prior knowledge

00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:08.019
of it? Well, the first thing I'd do, you remember

00:36:08.019 --> 00:36:10.139
this from yesterday, the rule book, rule book

00:36:10.139 --> 00:36:12.900
of Major League Baseball? First thing I would

00:36:12.900 --> 00:36:14.780
need to do is get the rule book of Major League

00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:17.639
Baseball and I'd need to open it and read it

00:36:17.639 --> 00:36:20.920
and study it and learn a few things about the

00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:23.900
game of baseball. And with that information,

00:36:23.980 --> 00:36:26.480
with the rule book, I could start walking into

00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:29.780
sports stadiums And I could start watching the

00:36:29.780 --> 00:36:32.300
games that those athletes would play on the field.

00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:35.940
And I might walk into a stadium and see the men

00:36:35.940 --> 00:36:38.400
out on the field tackling one another, and they're

00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:41.239
throwing this brown oval -shaped ball, and it

00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:44.000
looks like the goal is to tackle the guy with

00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:48.460
the ball before he gets into the end zone. I

00:36:48.460 --> 00:36:51.219
don't read that in the rule book. That's not

00:36:51.219 --> 00:36:53.059
in the baseball rule book. That must be another

00:36:53.059 --> 00:36:56.150
sport, right? That's American football. So I

00:36:56.150 --> 00:36:57.969
gotta keep looking. I'm gonna go to the next

00:36:57.969 --> 00:37:00.170
sports stadium and I'm gonna look down there

00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:02.110
and I'm gonna see two guys with rackets hitting

00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:04.329
a little green ball back and forth, back and

00:37:04.329 --> 00:37:07.730
forth, back and forth. Well I've read the rule

00:37:07.730 --> 00:37:10.849
book and that ain't nothing like what the rule

00:37:10.849 --> 00:37:13.269
book says baseball ought to be. So I hadn't found

00:37:13.269 --> 00:37:15.530
baseball. I found something different. So I go

00:37:15.530 --> 00:37:17.590
in the next sports stadium and there's a bunch

00:37:17.590 --> 00:37:20.090
of guys running around wearing themselves plum

00:37:20.090 --> 00:37:23.219
out. kicking this black and white ball back and

00:37:23.219 --> 00:37:25.199
forth back and forth back and forth back and

00:37:25.199 --> 00:37:28.380
forth and Nobody gets real excited until they

00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:30.960
kick it in that net and then everybody goes crazy

00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:34.980
Well, that's all fine and fun, but you know what

00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:39.019
that's that's not baseball I Don't read of anything

00:37:39.019 --> 00:37:41.280
like that in the baseball rule book. That's not

00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:44.260
baseball. I hadn't found it yet have I But you

00:37:44.260 --> 00:37:46.099
know what I could go into the next sports stadium

00:37:46.099 --> 00:37:48.380
and I couldn't look out on the field and I can

00:37:48.380 --> 00:37:51.239
see they've got A diamond -shaped pattern on

00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:54.519
the field. And I can see they put nine players

00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:57.420
on the field. And then the pitcher pitches the

00:37:57.420 --> 00:38:00.659
ball. And it's three strikes is an out. Hey,

00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.019
the rule book says it's three strikes is an out.

00:38:03.059 --> 00:38:04.840
And then it's four balls in a walk. I can see

00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:06.599
that. And hey, that's what the rule book says.

00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:08.820
And it looks like they're gonna play nine innings.

00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:12.019
And it's six outs per inning. Three at the top

00:38:12.019 --> 00:38:13.860
of the inning, three at the bottom of the inning.

00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:17.760
Hey. This looks a lot like what the rule book

00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:20.760
says baseball ought to be I found the game of

00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:26.179
baseball Just by letting the rule book Be my

00:38:26.179 --> 00:38:28.500
guide and comparing what I'm seeing out there

00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:31.280
on the field to what the rule book says It wouldn't

00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.079
be hard to find the game of baseball. We could

00:38:33.079 --> 00:38:37.280
do it. You could do it Brothers and sisters friends

00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:39.360
if it wouldn't be hard for us to find the game

00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:41.300
of baseball It shouldn't be hard for us to find

00:38:41.300 --> 00:38:43.619
the church of Jesus built because we got a rule

00:38:43.619 --> 00:38:46.539
book. Don't we? We've got a pattern. We've got

00:38:46.539 --> 00:38:50.019
a blueprint. We've got the New Testament. It's

00:38:50.019 --> 00:38:52.619
our guide. It's our plan. It's our pattern which

00:38:52.619 --> 00:38:55.960
will help us understand and see clearly what

00:38:55.960 --> 00:39:00.460
the church Jesus built was all about. It's like

00:39:00.460 --> 00:39:02.519
a blueprint. You know, you can take a blueprint

00:39:02.519 --> 00:39:05.760
and as long as you take that blueprint and follow

00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:07.639
it carefully, you could go anywhere in the world

00:39:07.639 --> 00:39:10.199
and you could build the same house over and over

00:39:10.199 --> 00:39:12.440
and over again. I could build a house in McMinnville,

00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:15.889
Tennessee, take the blueprint. over to the Middle

00:39:15.889 --> 00:39:18.010
East and build that same house. I could go to

00:39:18.010 --> 00:39:20.789
Africa and build that same house. I could build

00:39:20.789 --> 00:39:22.829
that house anywhere in the world just by following

00:39:22.829 --> 00:39:26.010
the pattern or the blueprint that is provided

00:39:26.010 --> 00:39:28.530
to me. And the New Testament is like that blueprint.

00:39:28.570 --> 00:39:31.210
We can take the New Testament and the pattern

00:39:31.210 --> 00:39:33.730
of the church it gives us and we can replicate

00:39:33.730 --> 00:39:35.690
the Lord's church. We can be the Lord's church

00:39:35.690 --> 00:39:39.269
today. We can find the Lord's church today. We

00:39:39.269 --> 00:39:41.429
can be the church that Jesus Christ built, the

00:39:41.429 --> 00:39:44.119
Church of Christ. today, two thousand years after

00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:46.099
he built it. I know that was a long time ago.

00:39:47.860 --> 00:39:49.659
But you know, I mean the blueprint, as long as

00:39:49.659 --> 00:39:52.980
the blueprint's still good, right? A thousand

00:39:52.980 --> 00:39:55.639
years can go by, two thousand years, five, ten

00:39:55.639 --> 00:39:58.960
thousand years could go by. And as long as you

00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:01.860
have access to the blueprint, you still have

00:40:01.860 --> 00:40:04.159
what you need to find the church Jesus built.

00:40:04.880 --> 00:40:07.659
So we can find and we can be the church of Christ

00:40:07.659 --> 00:40:10.099
today. Let me give you some specific examples

00:40:10.099 --> 00:40:13.000
of what I'm talking about. The New Testament

00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:16.840
provides information about the name of the church.

00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:20.099
There's a name given to the church in Scripture,

00:40:21.119 --> 00:40:23.300
okay? And we can go to the pattern, the New Testament,

00:40:23.500 --> 00:40:25.880
and we can find that name given. And if we want

00:40:25.880 --> 00:40:28.099
to find the church that Jesus built today, we

00:40:28.099 --> 00:40:30.400
will go look for a church that wears that same

00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:33.000
name, that wears a scriptural name. If we want

00:40:33.000 --> 00:40:35.199
to be a scriptural church, it just makes sense

00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:38.159
that we would wear a scriptural name. In Romans

00:40:38.159 --> 00:40:40.860
16, 16, Paul said, salute one another with a

00:40:40.860 --> 00:40:43.199
holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:46.500
He calls the churches, he refers to the churches

00:40:46.500 --> 00:40:48.820
as the churches of Christ. That's a scriptural

00:40:48.820 --> 00:40:51.099
name for the church and that's the name we wear

00:40:51.099 --> 00:40:53.539
here at North Warren. I like that name. That's

00:40:53.539 --> 00:40:57.019
a good name. It's a scriptural name and it shows

00:40:57.019 --> 00:40:59.460
who the church belongs to. It shows the ownership

00:40:59.460 --> 00:41:02.840
that Jesus has, the possession of His church.

00:41:03.179 --> 00:41:05.559
And if we want to be a scriptural church, like

00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:08.039
I said, we will wear a scriptural name. You know,

00:41:08.300 --> 00:41:11.639
the members of the churches of Christ in the

00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:14.340
first century, the disciples, they were simply

00:41:14.340 --> 00:41:19.800
called Christians. Christians. I tell people

00:41:19.800 --> 00:41:22.000
today, I told somebody today, we were out knocking

00:41:22.000 --> 00:41:25.719
doors. I told them we're just Christians. And

00:41:25.719 --> 00:41:28.239
the typical response I get when I tell someone

00:41:28.239 --> 00:41:30.000
I'm just a Christian, they say, oh yeah, I know

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:32.019
you're a Christian, but what kind of Christian

00:41:32.019 --> 00:41:36.199
are you? Right? What flavor are you? There's

00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:39.820
all the different flavors of Christians. With

00:41:39.820 --> 00:41:41.480
all due respect, there's Baptist Christians,

00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:43.820
Methodist Christians, Episcopalian Christians,

00:41:44.380 --> 00:41:48.329
Adventist Christians, Mormon Christians. There's

00:41:48.329 --> 00:41:50.530
all these different flavors of Christian. It

00:41:50.530 --> 00:41:52.590
seems like nobody is just a Christian these days,

00:41:52.590 --> 00:41:54.489
but that's what I want to be. I want to be just

00:41:54.489 --> 00:41:56.650
a Christian because that's what these disciples

00:41:56.650 --> 00:42:00.590
were in Antioch in Acts 11 26. It says the disciples

00:42:00.590 --> 00:42:04.909
were called Christians first in Antioch. Were

00:42:04.909 --> 00:42:10.949
they Baptist Christians? No. No. Were they Lutheran

00:42:10.949 --> 00:42:15.369
Christians? They were not. Were they Mennonite

00:42:15.369 --> 00:42:21.190
Christians? No. You know, Baptist Church, Lutheran

00:42:21.190 --> 00:42:23.289
Church, Mennonite Church wouldn't exist for another

00:42:23.289 --> 00:42:27.170
1 ,500 years. They were just Christians. They

00:42:27.170 --> 00:42:28.869
were just part of that one church that Jesus

00:42:28.869 --> 00:42:30.969
built. That's the same church we're trying to

00:42:30.969 --> 00:42:35.710
be today. The New Testament pattern also teaches

00:42:35.710 --> 00:42:38.329
us things pertaining to membership in Christ's

00:42:38.329 --> 00:42:39.969
church. How do you become a member of the church

00:42:39.969 --> 00:42:43.130
Jesus built? If we want to be the church Jesus

00:42:43.130 --> 00:42:45.630
built today, we will go to the pattern, the New

00:42:45.630 --> 00:42:48.820
Testament. And we will try to put into practice

00:42:48.820 --> 00:42:51.679
the same terms of membership. If we want to find

00:42:51.679 --> 00:42:54.880
the church Jesus built in the religious world

00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:57.119
today, we will look for a church that is putting

00:42:57.119 --> 00:42:59.860
into practice the same terms of membership. And

00:42:59.860 --> 00:43:01.320
there's something that's very, very important.

00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:03.920
It's important that we be baptized in water for

00:43:03.920 --> 00:43:05.960
the remission of our sins. And that's one of

00:43:05.960 --> 00:43:08.340
the ways that we gain access or entrance into

00:43:08.340 --> 00:43:10.760
the church Jesus built. The Bible teaches in

00:43:10.760 --> 00:43:13.239
1 Corinthians 12 -13, for by one spirit we're

00:43:13.239 --> 00:43:17.219
all baptized into one body. When we hear the

00:43:17.219 --> 00:43:20.579
gospel believe it Repent of our sin confess faith

00:43:20.579 --> 00:43:22.360
in Christ and when we're baptized the Bible says

00:43:22.360 --> 00:43:25.500
we're baptized into We come into the body of

00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:27.800
Christ the church that he built. So, you know

00:43:27.800 --> 00:43:32.119
baptism is an important part of Membership in

00:43:32.119 --> 00:43:34.159
the church that Jesus built we want to find that

00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:36.500
church today We'll look for a church that teaches

00:43:36.500 --> 00:43:39.239
you need to be baptized to become a member of

00:43:39.239 --> 00:43:42.639
Christ Church That's very important the New Testament

00:43:43.299 --> 00:43:46.119
gives us details about the organization of the

00:43:46.119 --> 00:43:49.079
church. How does the Lord want the church organized?

00:43:50.079 --> 00:43:52.840
How does it want it governed? We're only going

00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:55.139
to mention this briefly for a moment. If you

00:43:55.139 --> 00:43:56.780
want to hear more about that, come back Friday

00:43:56.780 --> 00:43:59.219
night. We're going to talk more in depth about

00:43:59.219 --> 00:44:01.480
restoring God's plan for the organization of

00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:04.019
the church. But if we want to find the church

00:44:04.019 --> 00:44:06.519
Jesus built today, we'll find that church that

00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:08.860
is putting into practice that same pattern for

00:44:08.860 --> 00:44:12.179
church organization. Ephesians 4, 11 to 12 gives

00:44:12.179 --> 00:44:14.400
us some insight into the organization of the

00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:17.380
church where He, Christ, gave some apostles,

00:44:17.659 --> 00:44:19.760
some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors

00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:22.360
and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,

00:44:22.440 --> 00:44:24.880
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying

00:44:24.880 --> 00:44:28.239
of the body of Christ. This is one passage that

00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:32.719
reveals certain offices. And think of these offices

00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:36.579
as roles and responsibilities given to different

00:44:36.579 --> 00:44:39.059
individuals in the church to serve the church.

00:44:39.369 --> 00:44:42.949
to equip it so that it can be edified and built

00:44:42.949 --> 00:44:46.050
up. Evangelists preaching, pastors or elders

00:44:46.050 --> 00:44:48.369
shepherding, deacons which this verse doesn't

00:44:48.369 --> 00:44:50.469
mention but other passages in the New Testament

00:44:50.469 --> 00:44:54.050
do, deacons serving, teachers teaching. God has

00:44:54.050 --> 00:44:56.909
a plan for the organization of the church and

00:44:56.909 --> 00:44:59.889
its different offices and this verse gives us

00:44:59.889 --> 00:45:03.219
some of the details about that plan. If we want

00:45:03.219 --> 00:45:05.039
to find the church Jesus built, we'll find a

00:45:05.039 --> 00:45:07.940
church that is ordaining people into these offices

00:45:07.940 --> 00:45:10.659
and people that are fulfilling these roles and

00:45:10.659 --> 00:45:12.519
responsibilities according to the Scriptures.

00:45:13.559 --> 00:45:16.360
What about doctrine? New Testament provides a

00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:18.719
pattern for the doctrine that they taught in

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:21.789
the church Jesus built. To find the church Jesus

00:45:21.789 --> 00:45:23.570
built today, we'll be looking for the church

00:45:23.570 --> 00:45:26.110
that teaches that same doctrine. And doctrine

00:45:26.110 --> 00:45:28.769
is important. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy

00:45:28.769 --> 00:45:32.090
4 to preach the Word. Be instant in season, out

00:45:32.090 --> 00:45:34.789
of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering

00:45:34.789 --> 00:45:37.090
and doctrine. For the time will come when they

00:45:37.090 --> 00:45:39.289
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their

00:45:39.289 --> 00:45:41.369
own lust shall they heed to themselves, teachers

00:45:41.369 --> 00:45:45.269
having itching ears. Jesus built His church on

00:45:45.269 --> 00:45:48.320
sound scriptural doctrine. So if we're going

00:45:48.320 --> 00:45:50.000
to find that church today, we're definitely going

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:51.920
to have to pay close attention to a church's

00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:54.139
doctrine and make sure that what they're teaching

00:45:54.139 --> 00:45:56.820
is straight from the Word of God without any

00:45:56.820 --> 00:46:00.440
additions or subtractions or without man substituting

00:46:00.440 --> 00:46:03.820
his ideas or opinions for the Word of the Lord.

00:46:05.380 --> 00:46:07.639
What about worship? New Testament has a pattern

00:46:07.639 --> 00:46:11.869
or plan for how we worship in Christchurch. We're

00:46:11.869 --> 00:46:13.829
going to talk more about that as we go on through

00:46:13.829 --> 00:46:15.510
the meeting, but if we're going to find Christ's

00:46:15.510 --> 00:46:17.630
church today, we will find the church that's

00:46:17.630 --> 00:46:19.869
worshipping according to the New Testament pattern.

00:46:20.230 --> 00:46:22.650
Jesus calls us to worship in spirit and in truth.

00:46:22.710 --> 00:46:26.170
That's what he says in John 4, 23 to 24. The

00:46:26.170 --> 00:46:28.510
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper

00:46:28.510 --> 00:46:30.829
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

00:46:31.210 --> 00:46:33.469
For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God

00:46:33.469 --> 00:46:36.030
is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must

00:46:36.030 --> 00:46:41.139
worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is seeking

00:46:41.139 --> 00:46:44.440
the Bible says true worshipers and the true worshipers

00:46:44.440 --> 00:46:47.019
according to Jesus are those who worship in spirit

00:46:47.019 --> 00:46:53.619
and in truth So I hope I've been able to help

00:46:53.619 --> 00:46:58.199
you clearly see That though we're almost 2 ,000

00:46:58.199 --> 00:47:00.320
years removed from the time when Jesus built

00:47:00.320 --> 00:47:03.820
his church We still have a pattern or a plan

00:47:03.820 --> 00:47:05.760
for that church in our New Testament and we can

00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:09.380
take that pattern and plan today and use it to

00:47:09.380 --> 00:47:12.099
look in the religious world around us and find

00:47:12.099 --> 00:47:15.639
that one church that Jesus built. We can take

00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:19.400
that same pattern and plan and do our level best

00:47:19.400 --> 00:47:22.139
to put it into practice. Despite our weaknesses

00:47:22.139 --> 00:47:24.820
and imperfections, we can take that same pattern,

00:47:24.820 --> 00:47:27.699
put it into practice, and we can be the church,

00:47:28.900 --> 00:47:33.769
the very same church that Jesus built. As I start

00:47:33.769 --> 00:47:35.550
to wrap it up, I want you to understand some

00:47:35.550 --> 00:47:36.750
things. You know, there are some things in the

00:47:36.750 --> 00:47:38.929
New Testament that are some things that are not

00:47:38.929 --> 00:47:42.329
mentioned or given to us in the New Testament

00:47:42.329 --> 00:47:44.750
concerning our faith, our doctrine, our practice.

00:47:45.309 --> 00:47:47.449
For example, you know, the Bible tells us we

00:47:47.449 --> 00:47:49.190
need to assemble on the first day of the week,

00:47:49.230 --> 00:47:51.670
but the Bible doesn't tell us what time to assemble.

00:47:52.389 --> 00:47:54.650
New Testament doesn't give any direction about...

00:47:54.719 --> 00:47:58.380
the time of the assembly. And if there's no New

00:47:58.380 --> 00:48:00.380
Testament scripture that tells us we meet at

00:48:00.380 --> 00:48:02.900
a certain time, that means we're at liberty to

00:48:02.900 --> 00:48:05.500
choose. In that regard, in the church today,

00:48:05.619 --> 00:48:09.500
we can meet at 2 .30, 10 .30, 8 o 'clock. We're

00:48:09.500 --> 00:48:11.599
at liberty to choose. You know, here's something

00:48:11.599 --> 00:48:15.420
else we're not going to get wound up about or

00:48:15.420 --> 00:48:18.340
upset about, whether or not we sit in pews or

00:48:18.340 --> 00:48:20.320
chairs. You know, there's no scripture that says

00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:23.110
thou shalt sit in church pews. Church pews are

00:48:23.110 --> 00:48:26.650
nice. I like church pews. But, you know, we could

00:48:26.650 --> 00:48:30.230
also sit in chairs. That might sound crazy to

00:48:30.230 --> 00:48:32.230
some people. Oh, we could never sit in chairs.

00:48:33.289 --> 00:48:35.510
We've sat in church pews our whole life. My daddy

00:48:35.510 --> 00:48:37.429
sat in church pews. My grandpa sat in church

00:48:37.429 --> 00:48:39.349
pews. Now, I'm going to sit in a church pew and

00:48:39.349 --> 00:48:42.789
we, you know, sometimes people get, they get

00:48:42.789 --> 00:48:45.489
hung up on things like pews and chairs, but we

00:48:45.489 --> 00:48:47.510
shouldn't get hung up on that because the New

00:48:47.510 --> 00:48:50.199
Testament doesn't tell us what to sit in. Let

00:48:50.199 --> 00:48:52.039
me really rock your world. You know in some countries

00:48:52.039 --> 00:48:54.099
they sit on the floor when they come to church?

00:48:55.480 --> 00:49:00.719
They sit on the floor. There ain't nothing wrong

00:49:00.719 --> 00:49:04.239
with that. We're in liberty to choose what we

00:49:04.239 --> 00:49:05.940
sit in. Last thing we want to do is try to make

00:49:05.940 --> 00:49:08.019
a law that we have to sit in church pews. That'd

00:49:08.019 --> 00:49:11.139
be silly. That's legalism. We don't want to be

00:49:11.139 --> 00:49:14.239
guilty of that. How many songs are we going to

00:49:14.239 --> 00:49:16.699
sing in our assembly? You know Daniel called

00:49:16.699 --> 00:49:20.730
an audible tonight and added an extra song. That's

00:49:20.730 --> 00:49:22.650
all right. We're at liberty to choose that. The

00:49:22.650 --> 00:49:24.369
Bible doesn't say thou shalt sing four, five,

00:49:24.369 --> 00:49:27.329
or six songs. And where the Bible doesn't specify,

00:49:27.710 --> 00:49:30.170
where the Bible doesn't give us pattern guidance,

00:49:30.269 --> 00:49:32.730
we don't need to try to make a law and say it

00:49:32.730 --> 00:49:36.210
has to be five songs or else you're not a Christian

00:49:36.210 --> 00:49:39.730
or else you're not going to heaven. We need to

00:49:39.730 --> 00:49:41.670
be good students of the Word. We need to look

00:49:41.670 --> 00:49:44.550
to the pattern and in areas where God speaks,

00:49:44.969 --> 00:49:47.429
Where he gives us pattern, we need to put it

00:49:47.429 --> 00:49:49.969
into practice. In areas where he allows for our

00:49:49.969 --> 00:49:52.070
own opinion or judgment, we need to allow for

00:49:52.070 --> 00:49:58.449
that without being divisive. Did some research

00:49:58.449 --> 00:50:03.250
the last few months about what modern -day Americans

00:50:03.250 --> 00:50:05.570
prioritize when they're looking for a church

00:50:05.570 --> 00:50:07.650
home. Read several different articles, several

00:50:07.650 --> 00:50:10.349
different studies. Here's what I found. I want

00:50:10.349 --> 00:50:13.289
to share those findings with you tonight. This

00:50:13.289 --> 00:50:15.110
just gives us a glimpse, another glimpse into

00:50:15.110 --> 00:50:17.349
the religious world around us today. These are

00:50:17.349 --> 00:50:19.829
the top five things modern -day Americans prioritize

00:50:19.829 --> 00:50:22.010
when looking for a church home. First thing is

00:50:22.010 --> 00:50:24.409
a preacher that checks all the boxes. He's got

00:50:24.409 --> 00:50:27.769
to be young. He's got to be the right build,

00:50:28.349 --> 00:50:30.769
right? He's got to have a nice family. He's got

00:50:30.769 --> 00:50:34.969
to be very energetic, very outgoing. He's got

00:50:34.969 --> 00:50:37.170
to be a great public speaker. He's got to really

00:50:37.170 --> 00:50:40.570
connect with people, very personable. When people

00:50:40.570 --> 00:50:42.489
are looking for a church, the preacher is under

00:50:42.489 --> 00:50:45.150
the spotlight. He's got to check all the boxes.

00:50:46.829 --> 00:50:50.090
People also want a church that has an exciting

00:50:50.090 --> 00:50:53.730
worship experience, okay? And the more exciting

00:50:53.730 --> 00:50:57.989
the better to people. Lights, smoke, the band,

00:50:58.250 --> 00:51:01.050
the loud music. That really appeals to people

00:51:01.050 --> 00:51:04.010
today. They like that and they want an exciting

00:51:04.010 --> 00:51:08.070
worship experience. People also today value the

00:51:08.070 --> 00:51:10.389
modern comforts that churches offer them and

00:51:10.389 --> 00:51:14.110
especially really new modern facilities. People

00:51:14.110 --> 00:51:17.170
really like it. People really like the way the

00:51:17.170 --> 00:51:19.909
church looks and how its landscape and you know

00:51:19.909 --> 00:51:23.309
the higher the steeple the better. A lot of people

00:51:23.309 --> 00:51:25.110
look for that and it's important to them when

00:51:25.110 --> 00:51:28.190
they're looking for a church home. Number four.

00:51:28.190 --> 00:51:30.530
People want the church that they've attend to

00:51:30.530 --> 00:51:33.969
be in a very convenient location, right? Just

00:51:33.969 --> 00:51:36.010
down the street. That'd be perfect, right? Within

00:51:36.010 --> 00:51:38.730
walking distance. Some of y 'all can walk to

00:51:38.730 --> 00:51:43.309
church. You're very fortunate, right? So a lot

00:51:43.309 --> 00:51:45.070
of people, that's one of the most important things

00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:48.210
they're looking for, the location. And then number

00:51:48.210 --> 00:51:50.730
five, to round it out. This is really important

00:51:50.730 --> 00:51:53.050
to people. People want safe and fun programs

00:51:53.050 --> 00:51:56.780
for the kids. We knock on doors like I said,

00:51:56.800 --> 00:51:58.559
we talk to people, we tell them about the church.

00:51:59.739 --> 00:52:01.920
The top two things we usually hear from people

00:52:01.920 --> 00:52:03.559
is, okay, who's your preacher? Tell me about

00:52:03.559 --> 00:52:06.559
your preacher. That's number one. And then number

00:52:06.559 --> 00:52:08.639
two, what do you have for my kids? That's number

00:52:08.639 --> 00:52:13.079
five. These are the things that people value

00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:14.980
and prioritize when they're looking for a place

00:52:14.980 --> 00:52:19.460
to go to church. Now, we need to have good preachers

00:52:19.460 --> 00:52:22.369
and teachers in the church. And I think this

00:52:22.369 --> 00:52:24.269
congregation is striving to do that. We should

00:52:24.269 --> 00:52:27.389
strive to have a good standard of solid Bible

00:52:27.389 --> 00:52:28.989
-based teaching and preaching in the church.

00:52:29.030 --> 00:52:31.429
That's good. An exciting worship experience.

00:52:31.489 --> 00:52:33.230
I don't know about you. I get excited when we

00:52:33.230 --> 00:52:34.769
come here and sing together. Singing tonight

00:52:34.769 --> 00:52:37.269
was great. I get excited. I look forward to it

00:52:37.269 --> 00:52:39.489
when we praise God together. It's exciting enough

00:52:39.489 --> 00:52:42.570
for me. No lights, no smoke, no big band, but

00:52:42.570 --> 00:52:46.690
I'm not concerned about that. Modern comforts

00:52:46.690 --> 00:52:50.369
and facilities. We've got modest places to meet,

00:52:50.469 --> 00:52:52.650
to worship and assemble. I tell you what, our

00:52:52.650 --> 00:52:55.329
facilities are ten times better than a lot of

00:52:55.329 --> 00:52:57.210
places I've been in Central America where they

00:52:57.210 --> 00:53:01.730
meet for worship. Convenient location, there's

00:53:01.730 --> 00:53:03.570
not a lot I can do to help you with that. Either

00:53:03.570 --> 00:53:07.050
you're close or you're not. I drive like 25 miles

00:53:07.050 --> 00:53:10.750
back home to get to where I go to church at the

00:53:10.750 --> 00:53:13.170
New Harmony Church of Christ. I told you last

00:53:13.170 --> 00:53:15.269
night I passed seven or eight other churches

00:53:15.269 --> 00:53:19.920
to get there. You know why I do that? I could

00:53:19.920 --> 00:53:21.920
stop at any one of those seven or eight churches

00:53:21.920 --> 00:53:23.940
to worship before I got to New Harmony Church

00:53:23.940 --> 00:53:25.659
of Christ. But you know why I go all the way

00:53:25.659 --> 00:53:29.260
to New Harmony Church of Christ? Because in my

00:53:29.260 --> 00:53:33.440
estimation of all the churches in my area, that

00:53:33.440 --> 00:53:36.420
congregation is the one that is following the

00:53:36.420 --> 00:53:38.900
New Testament pattern as closely as any other

00:53:38.900 --> 00:53:44.079
group that I've discovered. That's important

00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:48.280
to me. that I find a congregation even if I have

00:53:48.280 --> 00:53:51.360
to drive a long way that's following the New

00:53:51.360 --> 00:53:53.059
Testament pattern and trying to be the church

00:53:53.059 --> 00:53:55.840
Jesus built. Safe and fun programs for the church,

00:53:55.860 --> 00:53:57.940
we got that. There ain't nothing safer and better

00:53:57.940 --> 00:54:00.059
for our kids than to them to be sitting here

00:54:00.059 --> 00:54:03.159
by mom, by dad, by grandma and grandpa and listening

00:54:03.159 --> 00:54:06.179
and learning and singing and taking notes and

00:54:06.179 --> 00:54:09.639
learning how to pray. There ain't nothing safer

00:54:09.639 --> 00:54:11.780
as far as what we have to offer kids than what

00:54:11.780 --> 00:54:15.070
we do right here. All of us being together, worshiping

00:54:15.070 --> 00:54:18.309
God as a family. That's a wonderful thing. It's

00:54:18.309 --> 00:54:20.170
a beautiful thing. Now a lot of churches today

00:54:20.170 --> 00:54:21.969
have moved on to what they think are bigger and

00:54:21.969 --> 00:54:25.210
better things for kids. I'm here to tell you

00:54:25.210 --> 00:54:28.429
the old paths are better. Walk in the old paths

00:54:28.429 --> 00:54:35.349
and we'll be blessed. A lot of people prioritize

00:54:35.349 --> 00:54:38.050
a lot of things when they're looking for a church

00:54:38.050 --> 00:54:42.099
home. This really needs to be the most important

00:54:42.099 --> 00:54:44.199
thing to you and to me and to everybody. The

00:54:44.199 --> 00:54:46.280
most important thing should be finding a church

00:54:46.280 --> 00:54:48.579
that's striving to be the church Jesus built

00:54:48.579 --> 00:54:52.119
and everything else should be secondary to that.

00:54:53.239 --> 00:54:56.320
This should be at the top of our list of priorities

00:54:56.320 --> 00:55:00.199
that I won't be satisfied until I find a church

00:55:00.199 --> 00:55:03.239
that looks just like the one I read about in

00:55:03.239 --> 00:55:07.400
the New Testament. That ought to matter to us

00:55:07.400 --> 00:55:12.309
more than anything else. our top priority. Find

00:55:12.309 --> 00:55:14.809
a church that's following the pattern, the blueprint

00:55:14.809 --> 00:55:19.469
provided for us in the New Testament. This is

00:55:19.469 --> 00:55:24.030
the sad but inconvenient truth. There's far too

00:55:24.030 --> 00:55:29.530
much man -made religion in the world today. And

00:55:29.530 --> 00:55:32.570
case in point is the easy -to -understand flow

00:55:32.570 --> 00:55:37.780
charts, right? There is far too much man -made

00:55:37.780 --> 00:55:40.159
religious division and confusion in the world

00:55:40.159 --> 00:55:47.539
today. And listen, with all due respect to people

00:55:47.539 --> 00:55:50.400
who consider themselves members of all these

00:55:50.400 --> 00:55:54.159
different denominations, I'm here to tell you

00:55:54.159 --> 00:55:56.679
tonight, there is no salvation in man -made religion.

00:55:58.860 --> 00:56:01.239
I know that's not the politically correct thing

00:56:01.239 --> 00:56:05.739
to say. But I believe it's the truth. There is

00:56:05.739 --> 00:56:07.920
no salvation in man -made religion. There is

00:56:07.920 --> 00:56:11.940
salvation in Christ. There is salvation in Him.

00:56:12.039 --> 00:56:13.880
There is salvation, I believe, in the church

00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:18.000
that He built. I want to be a part of that church.

00:56:18.219 --> 00:56:22.599
You can be a part of that church. Jesus condemned

00:56:22.599 --> 00:56:25.639
man -made religion. He told the Pharisees in

00:56:25.639 --> 00:56:29.820
Matthew 15 -6, He says, you've made the commandment

00:56:29.820 --> 00:56:33.150
of God of none effect by your tradition. In verse

00:56:33.150 --> 00:56:35.449
9 he says, in vain you worship me because you

00:56:35.449 --> 00:56:37.610
teach for doctrines the commandments of men.

00:56:39.530 --> 00:56:42.210
Jesus outright condemned the man -made religion

00:56:42.210 --> 00:56:45.030
of the Pharisees. He had very straight and pointed

00:56:45.030 --> 00:56:47.329
words for them, didn't he? He told them right

00:56:47.329 --> 00:56:51.690
to their face, your worship is in vain. You make

00:56:51.690 --> 00:56:53.590
the Word of God of none effect because you hold

00:56:53.590 --> 00:56:56.309
to all these man -made traditions. That must

00:56:56.309 --> 00:56:59.199
have hurt, you know? I think it did hurt because

00:56:59.199 --> 00:57:00.840
later on in the chapter, you know what the Bible

00:57:00.840 --> 00:57:03.559
tells us, Matthew 15 verse 12, then came his

00:57:03.559 --> 00:57:06.039
disciples unto him and they said, knowest thou

00:57:06.039 --> 00:57:08.699
that the Pharisees were offended after they heard

00:57:08.699 --> 00:57:11.480
this saying? Don't you know you offended them

00:57:11.480 --> 00:57:13.340
when you told them that their worship was in

00:57:13.340 --> 00:57:17.960
vain? That it was empty, it was meaningless,

00:57:18.119 --> 00:57:19.920
it was pointless, what they were, their whole

00:57:19.920 --> 00:57:21.599
faith, their whole religion was meaningless.

00:57:22.280 --> 00:57:27.269
You offended them, Jesus. Verse 13, but he answered

00:57:27.269 --> 00:57:30.610
listen to what Jesus said every plant which my

00:57:30.610 --> 00:57:32.909
heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted

00:57:32.909 --> 00:57:38.369
up Let them alone They be blind leaders of the

00:57:38.369 --> 00:57:40.730
blind and if the blind lead the blind what will

00:57:40.730 --> 00:57:46.570
happen? We know both fall into the ditch Jesus

00:57:46.570 --> 00:57:50.650
said leave them alone every plant which my heavenly

00:57:50.650 --> 00:57:56.110
father hasn't planted will be rooted up He says

00:57:56.110 --> 00:58:00.909
they're blind, leaders of the blind. If the blind

00:58:00.909 --> 00:58:03.809
lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch.

00:58:04.010 --> 00:58:07.989
That's true. What's that mean to you? What's

00:58:07.989 --> 00:58:09.429
that mean to me? Here's what it should mean.

00:58:09.429 --> 00:58:11.489
We got to make sure we aren't uprooted. Every

00:58:11.489 --> 00:58:13.289
plant which the Father hadn't planted will be

00:58:13.289 --> 00:58:15.530
uprooted. We got to make sure we're not uprooted.

00:58:15.769 --> 00:58:17.690
We got to make sure we don't fall into the ditch.

00:58:17.750 --> 00:58:20.769
We can't just blindly follow some church or some

00:58:20.769 --> 00:58:24.030
preacher because they might be blind. And they

00:58:24.030 --> 00:58:26.329
might not be walking in the path of truth. And

00:58:26.329 --> 00:58:28.250
if we just blindly follow them, we're going to

00:58:28.250 --> 00:58:32.130
follow them right down into the ditch. You can't

00:58:32.130 --> 00:58:33.949
let that happen to you. You can't let that happen

00:58:33.949 --> 00:58:36.710
to your family. We can't let that happen to each

00:58:36.710 --> 00:58:42.050
other. Does finding the church that Jesus built

00:58:42.050 --> 00:58:45.329
matter to you? It's the question I'll leave you

00:58:45.329 --> 00:58:51.030
with tonight. Does finding the church that Jesus

00:58:51.030 --> 00:58:57.110
built matter to you. I hope and I pray that some

00:58:57.110 --> 00:58:59.010
of the things I've said tonight, some of the

00:58:59.010 --> 00:59:03.289
scriptures that we've read would motivate you,

00:59:03.369 --> 00:59:08.269
would encourage you, would inspire you to do

00:59:08.269 --> 00:59:13.530
your own diligent search to make sure, make sure

00:59:13.530 --> 00:59:16.869
that you find and you are a part and you are

00:59:16.869 --> 00:59:20.130
a member of that one church that Jesus built.

00:59:22.469 --> 00:59:25.090
God put us here. He give us time and opportunity

00:59:25.090 --> 00:59:29.190
to be about this quest this search For the church

00:59:29.190 --> 00:59:31.889
Jesus built and I hope and pray you'll take advantage

00:59:31.889 --> 00:59:34.769
of that opportunity Let's encourage all those

00:59:34.769 --> 00:59:37.789
around us to take advantage of that opportunity

00:59:37.789 --> 00:59:41.849
to define and to be a part Of the church of Christ

00:59:41.849 --> 00:59:43.869
the church that Jesus built. Thank you for your

00:59:43.869 --> 00:59:45.750
attention tonight I really appreciate you being

00:59:45.750 --> 00:59:48.610
here and listening to me and giving me your undivided

00:59:48.610 --> 00:59:52.519
attention I'm very passionate about these things.

00:59:52.559 --> 00:59:54.400
That's why I get excited. That's why I raise

00:59:54.400 --> 00:59:57.179
my voice. I want you to know something is for

00:59:57.179 --> 00:59:59.679
no other reason other than I care about these

00:59:59.679 --> 01:00:01.519
things. I care about you. I want to make sure

01:00:01.519 --> 01:00:04.599
people understand and get this information so

01:00:04.599 --> 01:00:06.699
they can make good, wise, and informed decisions

01:00:06.699 --> 01:00:11.400
about how they're going to serve God. And I hope

01:00:11.400 --> 01:00:13.739
you, I hope we all will make good, wise, informed

01:00:13.739 --> 01:00:15.860
decisions from the Word of God of how we serve

01:00:15.860 --> 01:00:16.019
Him.