So…here’s the deal. I need want your input. Let me explain. The church I pastor will be moving to a new facility that we just purchased. We originally thought that September 12th would be the target date. As you probably already know, planned projects seem to take on a life of their own. 🙂 Guess what? Yep, you guessed it. The renovations needed to make my office usable as well as the secretary’s office and the nursery have taken longer than expected so we have pushed the first day of worship in our new building to October 3rd. Since we will have to start with two worship services, that first Sunday will actually be in a tent followed by a picnic. We are also using it to celebrate our 6th anniversary. So…when we talked about the September 12 date, I began making plans and preparing messages for the final three weeks in our current facility in order to prepare us for that first Sunday and a sermon on “Why We Exist” (Love God, Love People, Impact the World). That schedule got skewed but after a lot of thought and prayer I decided to go ahead and preach the three sermons I was already working on. It is the “Story of a House” series (here and here so far). That leaves one more for that series. But that also leaves me 3 weeks of limbo before that first service and the “Why We Exist” sermon. I have wracked my brain and prayed a bit 🙂 about it and here is what I have come up with: continue the series only focus on the New Testament idea of the church. The first three were focusing on the Temple (next week is from Nehemiah) so take the next three and focus on the New Testament idea of the church.
So…here is where I need your input all you preacher people and all you non-preacher people. How would you develop these next three weeks of sermons? I am not looking for outlines although… Just kidding. I am looking for ideas and Scripture. Keep in mind they are designed to prepare the folks for the move and God’s idea of the church being the people not the building. All ideas will be considered. SO…HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!! I don’t have a prize to offer except the grand prize of you and your idea mentioned on this blog. That, and 74 cents, will buy you a Diet Dr. Pepper Polar Pop. 😛 FIRE AWAY!!
Just want you to know that God will guide you in figuring these next few weeks out.
Now that I’ve said that, let me give way to those who actually have wonderful ideas… 🙂
Jaycee: thanks for the encouragement. I suspect you have some good ideas though. 😛
Hi Cycleguy,
I don’t know about the cost of a Dr.Pepper soda in Canada but a can of coke in Alberta costs anywhere from 1 dollar to 1.50. Unless a person buys soda pop in bulk amounts from the grocery store. Our minumum wage now in Alberta is about 8.25 what is the minumum wage for jobs in your area?
The only thought I have right now on the New Testament Church is around change. There is the part in Revelation ch 21 vs 22 where it says that in the city of God there was no temple. ‘because the Lord God Almighty and Lamb are its temple.’
It seems that the temple will undergo more changes in the future from us being the ‘temple of God’ on earth.
Chamge with God goes from
one type of glory to another type of glory. We are changed and lifted up in Christ.
I Cor 15:45 speaks a bit about the change in glory. It says the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
God’s plans are always spectacular, and so good for us. We need to completely put our trust in Him and not lean to our own understanding or wisdom. Proverbs 3:5 and 6.
Linda: Polar Pop is a fountain pop in some our convenience stores. For a 32 oz styrofoam cup of DDP it costs 74 cents. I can’t say how much minimum wage is here. Don’t believe it is as high as yours. One of my teachings in this series is that we are God’s temple not a building. Because of the presence of the Holy spirit in every believer, we have become His temple. Change is necessary. Good to see you again.
hi again cycleguy,
Thanks for the welcome back. I was just reading in Jeremiah chapters 7 to 10. I think that it is very important that we recognize that it is not a physical building that determines God’s presense or name but rather the faithfulness and obedience to God and his ways by the people. Here in these chapters for example, God refuses Ephraim and chooses Judah. God leaves Shiloh (even the Ark of God’s presence left) and chooses another place for his name. The people were trusting in the temple itself as their safety and protection in the time of God’s wrath and judgment and were not secure in their own relationship and their own walk with God as people of the LORD. We need to have the same exhortation today, to not put our trust in physical buildings and in the traditions of the religious community.
Your last sentence is worth its weight in gold. That has been and will continue being my point. Thanks.
Habakkuk 1:5 and Joshua 3:5
Both speak of the amazing that God is going to do because of the people being holy and faithful. It is obvious that your church has been faithful just from reading what you’ve written.
Thanks Michael. They will definitely find their way into one of the sermons. Love the holiness idea.
Hi cycleguy,
I agree that holiness is a principle of Christian living that may have been neglected in the teaching of the Gospel in our present day. I’ve heard some say that Grace has been greatly misunderstood in the christian teachings in North America(Canada, USA and Mexico).
I found this explanation of how God enables us to live righteous lives. Here in the example given in this paragraph God infuses hope into believers lives. I’m thinking that this principle may apply to many things that we receive from God. We don’t know how it has been done or even the exact moment, but somehow we have this provision operating to be able to walk in what God has asked us to do.
This is the paragrpah that I found.
‘Hope, such as we are here contemplating, is an infused virtue; ie., it is not, like good habits in general, the outcome of repeated acts or the product of our own industry.
Like supernatural faith and charity it is directly implanted in the soul by Almighty God.’
Thanks Linda. Holiness will definitely be a part of one of my sermons.
WEll…..this is the post where I am having the song line in my head today! 🙂 I don’t have any ideas for your sermons, because I know that you will already have your outlines together and they will be awesome words from God!
😛 I sort of figured that after your comment on “Shakes” and no song was mentioned. have to admit to being a little behind after getting caught off guard but know God will give the words. Thanks.
If I were asked to talk about the church as it was described in the New Testament, I would approach it in this manner:
The Misconception – John 4: The woman at the well. “My people will worship me in Spirit and Truth and it won’t be about which mountains.”
The Redirection – Acts 2: The Holy Spirit gets a hold on a bunch of people and they start doing some crazy things like taking care of each other, listening to teachers, praying together, eating together.. wow.. sounds like community. And it attracted people.
Godly Reflection – Philippians 1: You can’t go wrong with encouraging the church as Paul did in chapter 1 of Philippians. It was a love letter to God’s people… but it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Paul prayed that they would be persecuted as he had in order that Christ would be lifted up.
Hope these help in some manner. And have a great time getting ready for your new digs!
Those are great suggestions tony. thanks! Right now can you say headache? Lots of details. My hat goes off a little more to church planters.
Tony stole my thunder some – I was thinking the book of Acts and Ephesians. Acts 2, Acts 6, and Ephesians 4:10-12/
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks Jim.
Oh.. think I’ll pray about this before just shooting from the top of my head.
You know how I am about those pcb (physical church buildings)… 😉
Yep I know Camey. You, of all people, should have a ready “sermon” for me. 😀
My tired brain isn’t quite running at full capacity right now, but I love the other ideas. One of my favorite subjects especially in conjunction with the NT church is how they worked and lived in community and it was a product of the Holy Spirit’s own work. Our congregation receives messages like this in various forms a few times a year!
Be blessed Bill. I know you’ll release life and truth from the Father’s heart!
jason: thanks for the suggestion. I do know that if I don’t use it now I will use it in my next series called 2:42
FWIW, personally, I’d consider raising expectations of God doing awesome things with this new phase… maybe Isaiah 43…
I wouldn’t address the warning that closes that chapter (vv 22+) directly though – more an implied “we must be who we are called to be” accountability kind of thing
Thanks Herb. Will look closely at the Scripture.
Hmmm…I think I’ll just pray for ya!
That works for me Jay!
I can’t think of a scripture that suggests a piece of real estate is relevant. The people are relevant. Maybe just something that points that out. That there is no scripture suggesting real estate is relevant or even necessary.
Jeff: I have been saying something close to that for the past two weeks and will continue doing so. Thanks for your thoughts.
Ephesians 4:16,
. . . from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Now this is a description of how the church, the body of Christ, “causes growth” and is built up in love.
Notice two things. First, the verse begins with the words, ” . . . from whom.” The growth and building up of the body is “from somebody.” Whom does “whom” refer to? The answer is the last word in verse 15: ” . . . who is the head, even Christ . . . from whom . . . ” So the first and most important thing to say about how interpersonal church life happens as the church is built up is that it happens “from Christ.” That is, it is supernatural. Christ lived once, died for our sins, rose again, ascended into heaven. He reigns there today and, as he promised, he is building his church. He is not passive and distant. He is a living, dynamic, active head of the body. He is supplier and guide by his Spirit. But will we receive his supply? Will we expect it and channel it to each other? That’s the first thing to see: Christ is the living source of church life and growth.
The second thing to see in verse 16 is that, even though the growth and building up of the body happens “from Christ,” it is the body itself that is the immediate active cause of that growth. Verse 16: ” . . . from whom the whole body . . . ” That’s the subject of the sentence; now where is the verb? What does the whole body do? The verb is way down in the last line: “the whole body . . . causes the growth of the body.” Everything else in that verse is explains how. But the basic sentence is “the whole body . . . causes the growth of the body.”
So even though growth and upbuilding are from Christ, the head, it is the whole body that builds the body. And the word “whole” is important. The whole body builds the body. That point is emphasized in the words, “according to the working of each individual part.” The whole body—that is, each individual part in the body properly functioning—causes the growth of the body.
Where and how does that happen in your corporate church life? Can we ever create enough programs that every person would be involved using some particular gift? That’s probably not even the right question to ask. Isn’t it more likely that Paul envisions a kind of regular gathering of the body in groups small enough so that every member of the body can minister to others with his own unique spiritual gifts?
Look at verse 7:
To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, When He ascended on high, he led captive a hose of captives, and he gave gifts to men.
Notice: “To EACH one of us grace was given.” And then in verse 8 that grace is expressed in terms of gifts: “Therefore, it says . . . he gave gifts to men.”
So what verse 16 means when it says that “the whole body causes the growth of the body” when “each individual part is working properly,” it means that all the members have gifts, and all of those gifts are to be used in building up the body “in love.” And this is how Christ, the all-supplying, supernatural Head of the body, builds and cares for his church.
Ike: excellent thoughts. That is listed as one of the Scriptures I want to possibly use. You may have actually confirmed in me the use of it. Thanks for a great explanation and input.