Sermons

S.R. Matthew 16:13-18                                       Click here for PowerPoint presentation.

Introduction

1. When you hear the word “church” what mental image forms?
   1. Write down a definition. One sentence.
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   2. I love my church family. I need to know you. I need to connect with you. You are good people. You are God's people. Perfect? No. But, you love the Lord and you want to do what the Lord says. That's wonderful and something to be thankful for. Love bears, believes, hopes and endures.
   3. Love for one another
      1. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
      2. “and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you;” (1 Thessalonians 3:12)
2. The history of our English word, church, is not clear.
   1. When we consult linguistic sources we find several suggestions as to how the word may have evolved into our language.
   2. The most common theory is that it came into English from an adaptation of one or more of the European languages’ adaptation of the Greek word, kyriakon, meaning “of or belonging to the Lord.”
   3. For example, the German word is kirche.
3. The Greek word, ekklesia, is the word translated “church” in our English versions.
   1. It is generally agreed that the word means a “called (or summoned) out assembly.”
      1. It was not originally a “religious” word.
      2. It had reference to any assembly called out of the general populace for a particular purpose or function.
      3. It was more than a mere gathering or assembly that may have been brought together by happenstance.
         1. It was summoned out for a reason.
         2. In Acts 19 this “mob” did not just happen to gather together, they had been called to a meeting of silversmiths (v. 25).
         3. After they were called together the assembly got out of hand (v. 32). After the town clerk calmed them down, he “dismissed the assembly” (v. 41).
         4. This was an assembly (ekklesia) that had been formally convened and was then dismissed.
   2. The Lord’s ekklesia (church) is not a mere gathering of people, but an assembly of people who have been called out of the world by the Lord for a purpose.
   3. These people have all been called out by the same message (2 Thessalonians 2:14).
   4. The Lord intended for His church to know and implement His purpose.
4. Not a new word
   1. Jesus and the New Testament writers did not coin a new word when they spoke of the ekklesia.
   2. They used a word already familiar and gave it a new application. “Family” – sometimes the term is applied to various relationships
   3. A study of the context is required to determine how the word is applied in a given passage.
   4. Perhaps “assembly” would have been a better translation – just as “immersion” would have been a better translation than “baptism.”
   5. But the fact that the translators chose “church” and “baptism” should not present a huge problem for Bible readers.
      1. We can look at all the times these words are used and consider the context of each and come to an understanding of what the writer meant in a given place.
      2. Even if “assembly” were uniformly used in our translations instead of church we would still have how it is used in each instance.
5. “Church” in scripture does not refer to a building.
   1. It refers to people in every place it is used. Check your definition
   2. This is not to say that it is wrong to place a sign on the meeting house that simply says “Church of Christ.”
      1. Some things are understood by reasonable people.
      2. If I put a little sign on my house that simply says “Alan Yeater,” it is not apt to leave the impression that I am a house.
6. Many modern dictionary uses of church are not found in the Bible.
   1. The first two definitions given by Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary are good examples:
      1. “1: a building for public and especially Christian worship.
      2. 2: the clergy or officialdom of a religious body.”
   2. Church is never used in a denominational sense in the scriptures. (A part of the whole as identified with a leader, movement or method.) [In question form in your outline] (1 Corinthians 3:4-9)
7. Now let us turn our attention to the ways in which “church” is used in our English versions.
   1. It is used once referring to God’s people (Israel) in the wilderness (Acts 7:38).
   2. All other times it is translated church it refers to God’s New Covenant people.

Outline

1. All of God’s People
   1. Jesus was the first to use “church” in the New Testament (Matthew 16:18).
      1. Here he uses the figure of a building resting upon a rock as a foundation.
      2. He envisions the time when he would build his great called out assembly upon the foundation truth that He is the Christ, the Son of God
      3. In Acts 2:47 we learn who makes up this “church.” It is saved people.
   2. We sometimes refer to this “church” as the “universal church.”
      1. It is not accurate to refer to it as the “invisible church.”
      2. God’s saved people are quite visible.
         1. All saved people include those who are living and those who have died.
      3. They are men and women everywhere who are saved by the blood of Christ.
   3. The usage of “church” in this sense is found in a number of other places in the New Testament (Ephesians 3:10; 4:4; 1:22,23; 5:23-32)
      1. “^3:10His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
      2. ^4:4There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called
      3. ^1:22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ^1:23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (NIV)
      4. Ephesians 5:26 “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,”
   4. The church in this sense has no geographical boundaries.
      1. It has no organizational structure on earth. (CEO) [Christ in Heaven]
      2. It has no earthly oversight. (Board of Directors)
      3. Its only functioning unit is the individual doing the will of the Head, Jesus Christ.
      4. It never convenes as a body.
      5. It is simply a term that refers to all of God’s people as a group.
      6. They are God’s “called out” people – called out of the world into Christ.
2. God’s People in a Community
   1. Interestingly enough, Jesus was also the first to use “church” in a local sense (Matthew 18:17).
      1. Some think that since Jesus spoke this before the establishment of the church that he must be referring to some assembly other than a New Testament congregation.
      2. But I believe that the following quotation expresses the truth of the matter.
      3. “As the Savior was giving preparatory instruction, he was compelled to thus speak of the church by anticipation before it actually existed. The word church means ‘assembly,’ and the apostles knew that there would be some form of assembly in the kingdom about to be set up. When Matthew wrote his Gospel, churches were already in existence. One who will not hear the church is to be regarded as an outsider. This implies that such a one is to be excluded from the church” (The Four-fold Gospel, by J. W. McGarvey and Phillip Pendleton).
      4. It should be obvious that it is “church” in the local sense of which Jesus speaks here as it would not be possible to tell the sin to all brethren everywhere.
   2. Most of the times that “church” is used by the New Testament writers it is speaking of Christians in a given community.
      1. At first, there was only one local church – Jerusalem.
         1. Acts 2:44 “All the believers were together and had everything in common.
         2. Acts 5:11 “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”
      2. Before long, due to the scattering of the disciples from Jerusalem due to persecution and possibly other factors, churches were found in other communities. (Acts 8:1-4)
      3. Each of these churches were spoken of as separate units often identifying them by their geographic locations.
      4. There was not only “the church at Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1; 11:22),
         1. there was the church at Antioch (Acts 11:26; 13:1)
         2. and many other places (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 16:1; Revelation 1:7)
   3. These churches (called out assemblies) had organizational structure.
      1. Each had its own overseers or shepherds as men became qualified and appointed (Acts 14:23).
      2. These were overseers only of the local church of which they were a part (1 Peter 5:1-4). Flock “among you.”
      3. There was a recognizable parameter of membership for the local church. (They could tell who was on the team.)
      4. The “church of God” at Corinth was told “if therefore the whole church comes together into one place” (1 Corinthians 14:23)
         1. This indicates that they would know those who made up the “whole church” at that place.
         2. It was not a matter of having vague and loose boundaries.
         3. Shepherds and all other members need to know who the “members” are.
         4. Membership has privileges and responsibilities.
   4. One could be a member of the church at one place while visiting at another place – Phoebe was a servant of the church at Cenchrea while she was evidently at Rome (Romans 16:1).
   5. These local groups were joined by other Christians (Acts 9:26). Saul of Tarsus.
      1. Local churches received (Romans 14:1) and rejected members (1 Corinthians 5:4-13).
      2. Sometimes mistakes were made in both accepting and rejecting. Jerusalem first rejected Paul, but later accepted him. (Acts 9)
      3. Diotrephes wrongly cast some out of the church (3 John 9-10).
      4. The point is that the boundaries of membership were controlled by each local church.
      5. They were independent self-governing under Christ and functioning groups.
   6. There were no teams larger than these local churches to do the work that God gave his people to do as a team. There is nothing God gave us to do as a “church” that can’t be accomplished by each local group.
3. God’s People in an Assembly
   1. The church existed in a given place as an organized unit whether physically assembled or not. (Think of a team.) You are a part of the team when separated or together. We were a team (Senators) when we were at home or at practice, game.
      1. The elders of the church at Ephesus were still elders of the church at Ephesus when they met with Paul at Miletus (Acts 20:17).
      2. When the local church (an organized unit) came together into a physical assembly, this assembly was also called a “church”
         1. (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20-21) “In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.” (NIV) 11:20 “when you come together,” (NIV)
         2. (1 Corinthians 14:4, 5, 19, 23, 28, 35). “Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place,” (NKJV) “assembles together” (NASB)
   2. We are “in church” (on the team) even “at home” when “church” is viewed either in the sense of all on Christ’s team or Christ’s team in your town or neighborhood. (Acts 14:27 “gathered the church together”)
      1. We each have a duty to assemble with other Christians (Heb. 10:25).
         1. Practice (training, instruction) is a mandatory part of team cooperation.
         2. Some people want to bat, but not play in the field or attend practice.
         3. Others are serious students of the game and want to know all they can to best serve the coach and the team.
      2. When assembled one is “in church” in the sense of a physical assembly. (1 Corinthians 14)
4. Conclusion
   1. “Church of God” or “church of Christ” is used to describe ownership and relationship
      1. Church of the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 1:1) “composition”
      2. (1 Thessalonians 2:14) “… churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)
   2. We need to be in “the church” in each sense.
      1. We need to be one of the saved (one team [God’s] throughout the world)
      2. Join the disciples locally (team in your community)
      3. Be present when the local church comes “together in (as) the church.”
         1. Show up for practice (Need to know the fundamentals)
         2. and get in the game.
   3. How did people get on the team? (Acts 18:8) “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.”