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Belonging to the churchThe Family of GodThe Building where God livesBelonging to the church
There is a question I am sometimes asked. "Can I be a Christian without belonging to a church?" Somebody once said. “Trying to live the Christian life without belonging to a church is just as possible and just as sensible as being: A student who refuses to go to lectures or seminars or tutorials. A soldier who will not join an army, never pays taxes or votes. A salesman with no customers. An explorer with no base camp. A seaman on a huge ship with no other crew. An author without readers. A tuba player without an orchestra. A football player without a team. Anybody who chooses to live completely alone on a desert island.
God does not want us to be “solitary” Christians. Our discipleship is not just a private and personal thing. Our Christian lives should not normally be lived out in isolation but in the fellowship of the church. The church is the community of disciples. If we want to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ we will express our discipleship by belonging to a church. Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Becoming a Christian, being baptise, led on automatically to being “added to the number of believers”, added to the company of believers – the church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common…. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… . And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. To become a believer automatically means to be added to the number of believers – the church. `The church' is not a building. The church is not an organisation. The church is a group of people! The Bible says the church is "The Body of Christ", made up of all Christians in every age. Even if they never meet up with any other Christians, anybody who has eternal life IS a member of this invisible universal church. The church God’s “Forever Family” made up of everybody who has a personal relationship with God as their Father.
But the Bible also uses the word "church" to refer to a local group of Christians meeting in a particular place, a local congregation. All true Christians will want to show they belong to the universal church by playing their part in a local church. Being a Christian but not belonging to any local church really would be like trying to be a football player without being part of a team!
We can easily misunderstand the ideas of “belonging to a church” or “church membership” if we think of it in the weak remote sense of membership you find used in some secular organisations and clubs. Some people treat being a member of a church just like being a member of the RAC or the AA – pay your subscriptions once a year and you can call the church out to help as often as you like. But belonging to a church is much more like being a member of a family or a member of an orchestra or a member of a football team. Belonging to a church is not a matter of privileges but of participation. It’s not about what we can receive but what we can give and what we can accomplish together.
We are all different in the time and energy we are able to devote to church life. But every Christian who is taking an active part as far as they are able in the worship and fellowship and witness of Brentwood Baptist Church belongs to this church and is a valuable part of the church. Even if your name is not yet on the membership list, even if you are not formally a member of that human legal organisation called Brentwood Baptist Church, we hope you feel at home here. If you are playing your part in the life of the church then you belong to the church. In Bible terms all Christians are members of that part of Christ’s body which meets here, all are valued members of the church. That’s the way it should be in God’s perfect plan. That’s the way it needs to be!
Billy Graham said, “Christians are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame burning brightly; when they separate, they die out.” We need each other as Christians – we need the church!
Belonging to any church brings us many blessings. There are the blessings of sharing in the church’s worship and fellowship and witness. There are the blessings of receiving teaching and pastoral care. But belonging to a church also implies commitment to the church and its activities by loyal attendance (not only on Sundays!) and by giving time, talents and financial support to that church. True belonging brings both blessings and obligations. To help us think through what our obligations are if we belong to a church, I have put together a list of eight “Responsibilities of Belonging to the Church.” 1. To follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly, open to His encouragement, leading and discipline through His church.Matthew 18:15-18.
We all need other Christians to help us in our discipleship, to encourage us but also to challenge us and steer us in the right direction sometimes.
2. To seek to grow in Christian discipleship day by day in your relationship with God, in personal holiness and in understanding of the faith.Micah 6:8.
The Bible and the Holy Spirit can teach us individually about Jesus, but God’s plan is that we should learn from other Christians. We all need the church to teach us through sermons, Bible Studies, Home Groups and other meetings. A Christian who wants to grow will look for Bible teaching mid-week, not just once a week on Sundays. We have much to learn too about faith from the experiences of other Christians.
3. To seek to witness by words and lifestyle to all that Jesus Christ has done and is doing in your life.Matthew 28:18-20 Acts 1:8.
Christians are ambassadors for Christ and also for the church. Each of us should be active and enthusiastic in sharing our faith with neighbours and friends in any ways we possibly can. But our witness TOGETHER is often so much more powerful than our witness as individuals – thing about Lighting Up Brentwood yesterday!
4. To be as regular as possible at worship (especially communion), church meetings and other church events.Hebrews 10:24-25.
There are a number of ways in which Christians should express their faith. Meaningful worship and regular Bible teaching are vital to the spiritual health of every believer. Sharing regularly in praise and prayer with other believers can be one of the most uplifting experiences in the Christian life. Communion especially is an expression of belonging as well as the greatest opportunity to receive the blessing of God. It’s good to plan to receive Communion at least once a month, but Christians should also surely plan to be at worship every week. The issue here is not taste or convenience but discipleship. 5. To pray faithfully for the life and work of the church and for World Mission.Matthew 18:19-20
Prayer is at the heart of the Christian life. Some members of the fellowship may find it difficult or impossible to attend meetings, or even to get to services. For a variety of very good reasons, at different stages of life, some Christians are not be available to play an active part in the church in any areas of service or witness. But EVERY Christian can support the church in prayer, and almost all could arrange to meet with one or two others, say in a prayer triplet, on a regular basis to pray for the life and work of the church. Praying together is at the heart of the life of any church. 6. To play a loving and loyal part in the fellowship, caring for others, sharing freely and bearing each other's burdens.Acts 2:42-47 Galatians 6:1-2
The principal occasions for fellowship and pastoral care are the midweek Home Groups and Prayer Meetings. The church is more of a family in these smaller gatherings than it can be in larger meetings. As members of God’s family we can share our Christian lives with brothers and sisters. We can share our joys and sorrows, questions and doubts, needs and problems, with others and we can all be used by God to help each other grow as Christians. As we share our lives together, care for others and bear one another’s burdens, so we obey Christ’s New Commandment to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34-35). So we should make time to get to know other Christians and talk, study and pray in small informal groups so that we can grow together. For most Christians belonging to a HOME GROUP will be very important.
7. To serve God in practical ways in the church and in the world using the skills, abilities and spiritual gifts He has given.Romans 12:4-8
Most Christians would also expect to find a practical or pastoral task which is their sphere of service within their local church and we discover our ways of serving God through the church. It is here that our spiritual gifts can be recognised and developed. We can learn to serve God and the church best in a loving atmosphere with the help and guidance of older Christians.
8. To give sacrificially to God to support the church and Christian work.2 Corinthians 8:2-4, 7
The ministry and mission of the church is the responsibility of the members of the church. As a Baptist Church particularly, nobody outside the church pays for what the church here does. The government doesn’t give Baptist churches any money. Other charities don’t give us money – we give them money! All the costs of the building and the activities here are paid for by the members of the church. The minister, youth worker, outreach worker, administrator. Not forgetting Lyn and James and Andrea in Uganda who are supported almost totally by members of the church here, or Evgeniy and Aneta in Bulgaria and Sarah Pryor with the Baptist Missionary Society in Nepal, and Baptist Home Mission, and all the other Christian activities we give from church funds to support. This is all God’s work and God’s people pay the bills!
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, once saidm
“The New Testament does not envisage solitary religion; some kind of regular assembly for worship and instruction is everywhere taken for granted. So we must be regular practicing members of the church. Of course we differ in temperament. Some (like you—and me) find it more natural to approach God in solitude; but we must go to church as well. For the church is not a human society of people united by their natural affinities, but the body of Christ, in which all members, however different (and he rejoices in their differences and by no means wishes to iron them out) must share the common life, complementing and helping one another precisely by their differences.”
Being a Christian is like being a singer in a choir or a player in an orchestra. God does not want us to be soloists. He wants us to play our part, while others play their parts! That way we can join with the choirs of angels and the music really is heavenly!
Eph 4:15-16 Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
NEW LIVING 16 Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. THE FAMILY OF GOD 1 John 1:1-10A minister was giving a children’s talk about the things money can’t buy. "It can’t buy laughter and it can’t buy love" he told them. To illustrate his point he said, "What would you do if I offered you £1,000 not to love your mother and father?" There was silence – until one small voice asked hopefully, "How much would you give me not to love my big sister?"
The Bible uses a number of different pictures to describe the church. The church is the Body of Christ. The church is the Bride of Christ. The church is the Living Temple. This morning we are going to look at what it means when the Bible says the church the Family of God. What an amazing thought. WE Christians are the family of God!
WE ARE GOD’S FAMILYMatt 12:48 Jesus replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus Christ the Son of God, Jesus Christ Saviour of the World, Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, says WE his disciples are his brothers and sisters. WE are His family!
God is our Father. God is the Father of everyone who puts their trust in Jesus as Saviour. John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba , Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,
God is our Father and we are His children and that makes all of us who trust Jesus as Saviour and serve Him as Lord brothers and sisters in God’s family, God’s forever family.
Slogan of one church – “We’re not just a church – we’re a family” In fact, EVERY Church should be a family, and part of God’s family!
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FAMILY
The deepest and level of fellowship is the kind of bond you
have between family members. This is the kind of bond between a parent and their
children or the bond you might have with a brother or sister. It is an
unconditional kind of bond that is for life! The Bible says about the early church that, “They were like family to each other.” Acts 2:42 CEV
Family is where we GROW Family is where we are NURTURED and fed Family is where we LEARN– role models Family is where we are ENCOURAGED 1 Thes. 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and build one another up one another, just as you also are doing Hebrews 10: 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another Family is where we are SUPPORTED 1 Cor. 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Family is where we find SECURITY Family is where we are ACCEPTED Family is where we are COMFORTED 1 Thes. 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. Family is where we find HEALING – when we are sick or hurting or grieving Family is where we learn how to FORGIVE Family is where PROBLEMS ARE WORKED OUT
This is what family is about. This is what church should be about. This is what family is like. This is what church should be like.
Family is where we should show TRUE LOVE – God’s kind of love 1 Cor 13:4 ¶ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 ¶ Love never fails.
Love one another. Love cares about the other person Love is Slow to suspect -- quick to trust. Slow to condemn -- quick to justify. Slow to offend -- quick to defend. Slow to resent -- quick to forgive Slow to belittle -- quick to appreciate. Slow to demand -- quick to give. Slow to provoke -- quick to reconcile. Slow to hinder -- quick to help.
This is what family is about. This is what church should be about. This is what family is like. This is what church should be like.
Many people have very high expectations and hopes Family life. A Hope for No Tensions: A Hope for No Differences: A Hope for No Criticism: A Hope for No Anger: A Hope for No Weakness: A Hope for No Craziness: A Hope for No Failure: Those are unrealistic, false hopes for life in families. And we are unrealistic if we expect the church to be a perfect family. Like any other family, the church family will face problems and disappointments. But families work through tensions and differences and criticism and anger and weakness and craziness and failure because they love each other.
One more thing which is as true in church life as it is in family life. “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family”
The problem is that we live in a consumer society. Underlying our consumer society there are two things which everybody takes for granted and expects and demands out of life. These two things are to have choice and to be satisfied. The way some people talk you would think that these things were basic human rights. But these assumptions about having choice and about guaranteed affect people’s attitudes to all kinds of things like morality and religion and even our attitudes to relationships!
For thousands of years human relationships have been based simply on geography. Family life and community life have been forged around location. In the Third World that’s still the way it is! But here in the West increased transport and communication, cars and telephones, have produced seen new kinds of relationships based not on location but on shared interests. People commute to work. People take their leisure away from their neighbourhood. You don’t have to work hard at building and maintaining relationships with the people down your street any more – or even with your own family. You can always build new relationships with people who are much more like you, who think the same way you do, even if they live hundreds of miles or even a continent away. The difference is between being in a family or community of people you cannot choose to be with, which can be hard work, and being in a community of people you select for yourself, which is much easier!
So in relationships, people have come to expect freedom of choice and they also expect to be satisfied all the time. These are the reasons why traditional communities and family life are breaking down and crime is increasing. This is why people are finding it harder to trust each other. Just as we are consumers of goods, so people have become consumers in relationships. Consumers have no obligations to their suppliers – and so people have no sense of responsibility towards each other. We demand choice and satisfaction – or we will take our friendship elsewhere. This is perhaps the main reason why Western Christians who are locked into a consumer lifestyle are not as good as we should be at showing Christ’s love for each other and for our neighbours. Showing true unconditional love for each other cuts across our freedom of choice, and offers no guarantees of satisfaction. But as Christians we should stand out against the tide in these things! We must show the world that we are prepared to sacrifice our satisfaction and give up our freedom of choice to show Christ’s love! That’s what being the family of God in the church is all about.
“You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family” You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your fellow Christians, your fellow church members, your brothers and sisters in Christ.
And you can’t opt out of church either! We don’t have the choice to live a solitary Christian life. God has put us in his Forever Family. We can’t opt out. We HAVE to live out our Christian lives in the family of the church. You don’t only have believe to live a Christian life - you also have to belong! If you believe, you have to belong!
1 John 4:20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
HOW CAN WE BE FAMILY MORE?
The heart of our life as Brentwood Baptist Church is our relationships with each other. The church is a family, not a business. Church is all about friendships, not `meetings’.
1 Peter 2:17”Love the brotherhood of believers.” “Love your Christian brothers and sisters.” (NLT) “Love your spiritual family.” (Message)
ACTS 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common…. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts… . And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. 1. LEARN THE NAMES of other members of the church! If you see a brother or
sisters you don’t know… take the initiative to meet them and to know them. (Make
use of the church directory!) Pray for people with particular needs, mentioning them by name in your private prayers (read the list of pastoral needs in Yellow Pages and pray for the requests). Pray for the activities of the church!
3. TALK TO PEOPLE!
Every event is an opportunity to get to know other people better.
Unspoken rules of the church
Rule 27 – “For any meeting of the church where food is served, the Minister must be invited!” Actually that isn’t a church rule. I made it up. And I quote it regularly and some people actually believe it!! And here’s another church rule which lots of Christians seem to believe and live by. Lots of Christians seem to live by Rule 29 – “You can only BE church AT church. The only place you are allowed to meet other Christians or talk to other Christians is on church premises or at official church events.”
I have news for you. Rule 29 doesn’t exist either! It isn’t true. The opposite is true. You ARE allowed to meet with other Christians when you aren’t at church. You ARE allowed to phone or text or email other Christians during the week (but NOT during the services!) You ARE allowed to visit each other, or have coffee together, or have lunch together with other Christians without the church’s permission in advance! You DON’T have to wait for the church to organise events. YOU ARE ALLOWED to make your own arrangements and get together by yourselves!
4. PRACTICE HOSPITALITY
The Bible says, 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. NIV “Open up your homes to each other.” 1 Peter 4:9 NCV Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. NLT
Hospitality is nothing more that making people feel at ease and at home: my house is your house – my home is your home Oliver:-
Consider yourself at home.
5. BELONG TO A HOME GROUP
In many ways the life of a “small” church is like that of a very large family. Everybody knows everybody. Most of the activities of the church are done all together, so that nobody ever feels left out. All of the decisions, major and trivial, are taken together and need almost complete agreement so nobody can be offended. Newcomers to such a church will only feel welcome if they “fit in” with the existing members. This often means that such a church is made up of people who are basically similar, in age, background, etc. The minister of a “small” church will be able to know all his (or her) members very well, as their friend as well as their minister. He will visit them all regularly and be involved in many aspects of their lives. This close relationship with the minister is a vital part of belonging in a “small” church.
The problem comes when churches grow!! As Brentwood Baptist Church has grown over the years. As a church grows, there comes a point when its members cannot all know each other. 2007 Directory: 200 adult members of church and congregation; approx 300 families linked to church in some way; around 500 adults + 200 children.
We are not a mega-church of thousands – but neither are we a small church. We are what church growth studies would term a medium sized church. So Brentwood Baptist Church is too big to live and behave like one single family. There are too many people for most of us even to know everybody else’s name. And that is why is it vitally important that every one of us experiences of the church as a “family” in smaller groups. Home Groups meeting in the middle of the week for Bible Study, prayer and fellowship. Women’s Own. Alpha courses and the chat-back groups which follow on from Alpha. A group where you can know and be known as a family. The church is more of a family in these smaller gatherings than it ever can be in larger meetings.
These are the principal occasions for fellowship and pastoral care - not on Sundays but midweek. As members of God’s family meeting as a small group we share our Christian lives with our brothers and sisters. We can share our joys and sorrows, questions and doubts, needs and problems, with others and we can all be used by God to help each other grow as Christians. We care for each other and meet each other’s needs in practical ways. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the Law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2) As we share our lives together, care for others and bear one another’s burdens, so we obey Christ’s New Commandment to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34-35). We all need to make time to get to know other Christians and talk, study and pray in small informal groups so that we can grow together.
So what can we do to live more as the family of God, which we already are? Learn some names. Pray for people. Talk to people. Practise hospitality. And join a Home Group. The church is God’s forever family. We are going to be spending eternity in heaven. So let’s LIVE as God’s family! Let’s get to know each other here and now!
The Building where God livesEphesians 2:11-22
New Year - Playing our part in the life of the church, as you do in a family, or a club, or an orchestra or a sports team. Last Sunday - Church as family –if you believe, you have to belong – simple things like learning names, praying for people, talking to people, practising hospitality, belonging to Home Group. Hgps last week - Church as body, where every part takes care of the other parts, no superiority, no inferiority. This week in Hgps looking at church as Bride of Christ.
Wonderful as all these pictures are of church as family, body, bride, we are going to look this morning at something even more amazing which the Bible says about the church. Something which sets the church of Jesus Christ apart from any clubs or choirs or teams or organisations or bodies or families. Something which makes the Christian church different from any other religious groups like synagogues or mosques. Something which sets Christians apart from Jews or Muslims or Hindus or Sikhs or Buddhists or Jehovah’s witnesses. Something which makes the Christian church unlike ANY other group of people in the world. It is what Paul says about the church in Ephesians 2. Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow-citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. What is unique about the Christian church is simply this. We are “a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
God is alive and at work in His church. God dwells in His church, in a way that God does not dwell in ANY other group of people in the world!
In the Old Testament God gave to his chosen people the Israelites the Temple in Jerusalem. It was a very special building in three ways. It was the place where God was to be found. God was present and active in the Temple in ways and to an extent which He was not present anywhere else on earth. So the Temple was the place where people met with God. When the time came to worship and to pray, the Temple was the place to go. And then even more important, the Temple was the place where God dealt with sin. The Temple was where sacrifices were continually offered, and especially at the great festivals of the year and most important of all the sacrifices for sin offered by the High Priest once a year in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. The place where God was to be found, the place people met with God, the place sin is dealt with. But now hear how Paul describes the church of Jesus Christ: 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. There aren’t special buildings where you go to meet with God any more. The Church of Jesus Christ is not the buildings – it is the people. WE are the New temple. We Christians are the new “building” in which God is especially present. We Christians are now the “place” where people go if they want to meet with God. And Jesus Christ the greatest High Priest has offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. So we Christians are the people with the gospel of salvation. We have the good news of how Jesus has dealt with the problems of sin for all who put their trust in Him. We Christians are the new temple.
1Pet 2:4 As you come to him, the living Stone- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We Christians are the “dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” God lives in His church. God the Holy Spirit lives in each and every Christian! But God lives and moves and works in Christians in even more wonderful ways WHEN THEY MEET TOGETHER! And the Bible gives us at least four ways in which God the Holy Spirit works in Christians – four ways in which we should expect to see God at work in His church, his New Temple. 1. FRUIT OF SPIRIT Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. We talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Home Groups last autumn. We saw that some of these fruit of the Spirit like patience and kindness and goodness come primarily from human obedience to God’s commands. Qualities like faithfulness gentleness and self-control are what God commands of us all as Christians. But love, joy and peace are different. We can’t work at qualities like joy and peace. They are God’s gifts to us! They are the work of the Holy Spirit within us as Christians. And indeed all of these Christians qualities require God working within us. God wants to give us supernatural patience, supernatural kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control, as well as supernatural love and joy and peace. These qualities should stand out as characteristics, not only of each individual Christian but even more of the Christian Church, where God dwells by His Spirit. The world around should be able to see the character of Christ in the way Christians relate to each other in the church! And one particular expression of the fruit of the Spirit should be: 2. UNITY IN CHRIST Eph 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Christians in the church have so much in common: 4 There is one body and one Spirit, one hope, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
So as far as the apostle Paul is concerned it is INCONCEIVABLE that Christians who are united by the one Holy Spirit living inside us should be divided. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We don’t have to work at being united. We are already united by the one Holy Spirit living inside us! We just have to work at not spoiling that unity. We just have to make sure we don’t break that bond of peace which is already ours because we are the building where God lives! Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Disunity and division grieve the Holy Spirit of God! GOD in YOU will never want to hurt God in a brother or sister – if what we do hurts others then we are not being led by God!! Fruit of the Spirit, Unity in Christ and 3. GIFTS OF SPIRIT Last week our Home Groups looked at that marvellous passage about the church as the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12. The context of all the things which Paul says about unity in the one body there is the question of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. What makes a Christian a Christian is the work of the Holy Spirit inside each one of us. That unites us into the one body of Christ. EVERY Christian has God the Holy Spirit working in us. So Paul goes on to say this. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. What is your spiritual gift? Or what are your spiritual gifts? Because Paul says that each and every Christian will have at least one special way in which God works inside them to build up the body of Christ, the church. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. .. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. No exceptions. EVERY CHRISTIAN will have a spiritual gift or gifts to enable them to play the part God has chosen for them in the life of the church. I deliberately did not highlight spiritual gifts when I talked last week about the church as a family, or the week before about playing your part as one would in a team or a club. Because teams and clubs and families are about the human effort we put in to what we do together. But the church is different because we have God living inside us. And AS WELL AS, not instead of but as well as our human effort, God the Holy Spirit equips us to serve Him in supernatural ways with Spiritual Gifts. So what is your gift? How does the Holy Spirit inspire YOU to serve in the church and the world? Spiritual gifts – and then 4. SIGNS AND WONDERS The Early Church was filled with signs of God’s presence. Acts 5: 12 The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. … people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. Signs and wonders. Not just prophecy and speaking in tongues but miracles of healing and deliverance. These are the kinds of things we should expect to happen in the church in every age. Because we are the building where God dwells by His Spirit. God is Almighty. All-powerful. We should expect to see God’s power breaking through into His church! Jesus promised that is how it would be! 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. … 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” We are the New Temple. WE CHRISTIANS are the place where God is especially present and where people come to find God. We are the people with the good news of how God has dealt with sin. We should expect to see God at work in our lives. In the fruit of the spirit. In Unity in Christ. In Spiritual Gifts. In Signs and Wonders. I’ve spent hours this week driving along motorways. One road sign has cropped up more than any other. That red triangle with a picture of a man struggling with an umbrella which means – danger, men at work. M25 and M4 are beset with roadworks every other mile! Danger – men at work! And thinking about the church as the dwelling where God lives it occurred to me that we really ought to have a sign “Danger, God at work!” God at work in incredible powerful dramatic supernatural ways. “Danger – God at work!” But then as I crawled past yet another section of road works with cones and lanes closed something else occurred to me. In all the tens of miles of road works I passed this week, all during daylight, during working hours, I never actually saw anybody doing any work. Not one person. Not one digger or lorry. Not one sign that ANYBODY was working to repair or rebuild the motorway at all. We don’t need some sign to say “Danger – God at work.” Just putting up signs is no proof that any work is actually being done. And when God is at work in His church, you don’t need signs to say so. Everybody can see! Supernatural examples of joy and peace and patience and kindness and faithfulness! A unity which can’t be explained by human effort but only by presence of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts building up the church, changing lives. Signs and wonders – Almighty God breaking into His broken world to put things right. These are the things we should expect to see in the church of Jesus Christ, the new Temple, the “ dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”.
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