Tuesday, February 4, 2020

What Does a Church Do?



(To download an mp3 file of this message, click on the title above. To listen online, click on the play button of the audio player here.)

This is the third sermon in a short series that attempts to explain what the church is and what it does. This message briefly reviews the first two sermons then begins to describe what the church does. The two tasks of the church discussed in this sermon are worship and administering the sacraments.

Written Excerpts:

Ephesians 3:21 (NKJV)  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Introduction:
We have been preaching about the church of Jesus for the last two Sundays and plan to continue the discussion today.
But first these quotes:
·         An inscription over a church door: This is the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. (This door is locked in the winter months). – (Draper's Book of Quotations)
·         In the church of God two opposite dangers are to be recognized and avoided: they are a cold heart and a hot head. – A. W. Tozer (Draper's Book of Quotations)
·         Never before has the church had so many degrees yet so little temperature. – Vance Havner (Draper's Book of Quotations)
·         Church-goers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out. – Billy Graham (Draper's Book of Quotations)
If you’ve been here the past couple of weeks you know that I’ve been talking about the church of Jesus. I have been trying to remind us of things the Bible tells us about the church. The two previous messages were focused on trying to define and describe what the church isn’t and what the church is. If you missed those messages, I would invite you to go to our church website and listen to or read those messages in order to get a fresh review of the church. Or, you can request a CD of the services back at the sound booth.
Just a quick recap…
Week 1: I started by identifying four things that the church is not.
·         It is not primarily an organization/denomination.
·         It is not a building.
·         It is not merely a ritual/ceremony/meeting
·         It is not a social club
After identifying what the church isn’t, I tried to describe what the church is, and we only had time for two points.
·         It is a congregation/assembly/gathering.
·         It is a fellowship/community/common body.

Week 2: I continued describing what the church is by saying…
·         It is an organism (vs. an organization)
·         It is a FAITH community
·         It is a SACRED community
·         It is both a local and a universal community
·         It is both a visible and an invisible community
Now, I want to move on from describing what a church IS to describe what the church DOES.
As we continue this discussion I want to continue using the word “community” in order to emphasize the fact that the church is not an individual, “Lone Ranger” type of existence. The church is made up of individual believers, but it is clearly a community of believers who work together doing what God has called them to do.
I.          The church is worshiping community.
Ephesians 1:12 (NKJV) that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 3:21 (NKJV) to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NKJV) Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Many people have stated that the first and primary thing that the church does is worship.
What does it mean to say the church worships? Thoughts on worship from sermon a few years ago.
(ISBE) The principal Old Testament word is ‏שָׁחָה‎, ṣhāḥāh, "depress," "bow down," "prostrate" (Hithpael), as in Ex. 4:31.
Exodus 4:31 (KJV) And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel… then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
The principal New Testament word (59 times) is προσκυνέω, proskunéō, "kiss (the hand or the ground) toward," hence, often in the oriental fashion bowing prostrate upon the ground… 
We might summarize worship by saying it is a recognition of the worth/worthiness of the one being worshiped, and the unworthiness of the worshiper. Individual members of the body of Christ worship Him personally in everyday life. Each individual worshiping member makes the church a “worshiping community.”
The corporate body (the gathering/assembly/congregating) is also a “worshiping community.” It is the main reason we gather – to give a corporate offering of worship to the Lord. A corporate worship service is the closest example of what is happening in heaven – the whole “congregation” engaged in praising, adoring, and exalting Christ.
When I was a young person, I used to have the primary understanding that church services were for the purpose of hearing the gospel preached and for evangelizing the lost who might be in attendance. This is certainly a legitimate aspect of church services. But many people do not realize that the “altar call” and the use of church services as time to evangelize is a relatively recent “invention.”
Years ago, I heard someone say that the practice of calling people forward in a church service to commit their lives to Christ started a couple hundred years ago. Now, it might be closer to 300 years! So what happened prior to that? Well, in the NT, it seems that the practice was for the disciples, and converts of Christ to go out and evangelize their acquaintances right where they were – in homes, in the community. Then, when they came together corporately, it was for the purpose of worshiping the Lord and giving Him the honor and praise for who He was and for what He was doing. And, it was also for the purpose to hear the teaching of Christ to be better equipped and prepared to go back out and spread the gospel again.
I think it was after I went to Bible college when I discovered that worship services and “evangelistic services” were not the same thing.
When we gather in the name of Jesus, we gather first and foremost to worship the Lord. We gather to spiritually, if not literally, fall on our faces in acknowledgement of His majesty and glory. We gather to exalt Him, praise Him, thank Him, while we acknowledge our own unworthiness.
II.        The church is a sacramental community.
The second task of the church relates to the administering of the sacraments. I have chosen to mention it in today’s sermon because we are sharing the sacrament of communion today. In Protestant churches, when we speak of the sacraments we are talking about baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
In the past I have stated that a sacrament is a visible/physical sign representing an invisible/spiritual truth, and it is a seal that God will perform the spiritual work that was provided through the death and resurrection of Jesus. A sacrament is outward and physical, but it represents something inward and spiritual.
When we speak about the sacraments of baptism and communion, they both contain physical elements – there’s water, and there’s bread and wine. Participants literally get wet; they literally eat and drink and swallow. These physical elements represent spiritual truths and realities directly related to the work of Jesus Christ in our behalf.
Without going any deeper into the discussion of what a sacrament is, I simply want to emphasize the point that the sacraments are shared and provided within the context of the body of believers – the church. That makes the church a sacramental community.
The reason we believe that there are only two sacraments is because baptism and communion are the only two clearly instituted by Jesus Himself.
Matthew 28:19 (NKJV) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Luke 22:19 (NKJV) And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 
The NT church continued carrying out the command of Christ. Within the context of the church (body of believers), they continued to baptize and to share the Lord’s Supper.
Acts 2:41-42 (NKJV) 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
As a sacramental community the church administers the rite of baptism as a corporate witness to the profession of faith given by the convert and a sort of initiation into the family of faith. In the breaking of bread and sharing of the cup the church community witnesses to the saving work of Christ through His sacrifice, and reminds the members of the body of the main thing which unites them – the blood of Christ. Offering the sacrament of communion is the witness that we are all communing with each other while communing (participating) with our Lord. For that reason, the church forbid communion to any who had departed from the faith and were clearly in violation Scripture in their conduct and/or teaching. 
These witnesses of baptism and communion are provided in and through the church – the community of faith.
Conclusion:
Today we have tried to remind you of two tasks assigned to the church and carried out by the church. They are two of the things that the church does.
The church worships God, individually and corporately.
The church provides the sacraments as a witness to the work God has done and is doing in His people.
Today, we will again share the emblems of the Lord’s Supper and celebrate our privilege to commune together as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. We also celebrate our privilege to commune with our Lord Jesus Christ as we obey His command.
Before we share the communion emblems, let us sing the closing hymn: When I See the Blood 

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