“Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belong to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.” Hybels concludes, “Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.”

There is no other institution that can compare to the church of Jesus Christ!
           What we Aren’t:

Members of a social club that solely provides camaraderie.
People who gather to show off the latest fashions.
Group that hangs together cause we share common interest.
Folks who gather together to play games and have fun.
Here to make each other feel good.]
Part of an organization that expects nothing from its members.

WE ARE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!
And our calling and purpose is so much higher than these.

“Ekklasia”, Church, assembly, congregation, signifies a uniqueness

Defined, “belonging to God, people who are called out”

                      The Church is not a “man-made” institution, it is divinely established

How do we become a part of God’s Institution? We can’t!
Only God can add you to His Church.

Acts 2:41 & 47, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They were , “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, repenting of our sin, and confessing Him as Lord, and are baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, are we added by God to His Church.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Built Upon the foundation of Jesus

Matthew 16:17-18, Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

           My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood & righteousness.

All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Organizations come & go, but the Church remains.

Man has tried every conceivable idea to rid the world of church, but to no avail.
When God starts something, it lasts until He decides to stop it.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Members of God’s Household

Ephesians 2:19, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household”

           We have been born into His family, we bear His name.

Why would we ever do anything that would bring shame or reproach upon Him?

Alexander the Great, the leader of the Greek empire that conquered the world, often walked among his soldiers.

           One night, he walked by a sentry who had fallen asleep.

                      When he woke him, the man was terrified,

           What is your name?

                      The sentry replied, Alexander, like yours.

           Then either change your name, or change your behavior!

Christians, followers of Christ, Children of God: live up to the holy name that you wear!

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

           Dwelling of God

Ephesians 2:22, “And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

I Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

Barbara Johnson said, “I’ve reached the age where it’s harder and harder to think of my body as a temple. It’s more like a building project that got out of control.”

Since Jesus resides in our hearts, then every word we speak, He speaks.
Everything that we intake, He intakes.

           Every place we go, He is there.

           All our actions, are His actions.

Comedian Steve Martin starred in a very silly movie called “All of Me.”

           His body was dually possessed by a man & a woman, played by Lilly Tomlin.

           In 1 scene, Lily is extremely embarrassed because he must use a men’s restroom.

God lives in you, but are there situations & activities that you involve yourself in that cause God to blush?

           Do you take Him places that cause Him to lower His head,

                      hoping no one will recognize Him?

           Honor Him in your life & with your lifestyle, because He lives in you.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!
We are part of the: BODY

I Corinthians 12:12ff describes the church as a body.
I Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

Ephesians 4:16. “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.”
 

Each part of the Church is inter-connected, inter-twined, joined together.

           It works as a whole, it works together.

                      In fact, if the one part becomes disconnected from the body it dies.

When I had my cancer surgery, as you know, they removed my stomach and my spleen.

           When they did that, both of those parts of my body died!

                      They died, because they were no longer connected to the body.

           Only as they were connected to the body did they have life.

                      The life is in the body.

You can see the spiritual application.

It’s only as we are connected to the body, the church of Jesus Christ, that we have life.

Jesus is the way the truth and the life, and we are connected to that life in the church of Jesus Christ.

           While we are connected to each other, we are also connection to Christ,

           who gives us life.


WE ARE THE CHURCH!

           The Flock of God

Acts 20:28, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

I Peter 5:2, Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve.

People who raise sheep, say that they are most stupid animals on the face of the earth.
Does it offend you that God called us a flock of sheep?
One thing they are very good at: Following.

That should speak volumes to us as Christians, who are referred to by God Himself as His flock!

           Remember what Jesus said to his potential disciples?

Matthew 4:19-20 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

           Later Jesus would say:

Matthew 10:38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

And in Matthew 19:27 we read: Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!....”

I know we like to do our own thing, go our own way, to be independent!

           But God says “No!”

We are His Sheep and we are to follow Him, His will and His plan for our life.

1 Peter 2:21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

           As God’s sheep we are to follow the Master Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!

           Bride of Christ

Ephesians 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Revelation 19:7, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready
 

As a member of the Church, we are also the bride of Christ.
Jesus, the Bridegroom has cleansed us, sacrificed for us, loved us, saved us.

What beautiful sight, when a bride walks down aisle, adorned in white, signifying her commitment of purity.

Now she stands next to her husband, and with pride says, you are the first, the last, the only one for me.

Do you remember the commitment you made when you married your spouse?

Will you have this woman/man to be your wife/husband; to live together in the holy covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her so long as you both shall live?

We are the bride of Christ and we have committed our life to Him!

                      To honor Him, Love Him, Cherish Him, To be Faithful to Him,

                                 To be Obedient to Him, To Forsake all others,

                                            to Live for Him and Him alone.

           We are the Bride of Christ!

                      Let us always keep our commitment to our Bride Groom, Jesus.

WE ARE THE CHURCH!
Sanctified & Holy

I Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--their Lord and ours:”

I Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
 

Sanctification means - perfection, purity, to be set apart.

           Sanctification will bring an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth,

and an immense broadening of all our interests in God.

It means intense concentration on God’s point of view.

It means that every part of our bodies and lives are set apart for God’s purposes, and for His will.

That makes us different from the world.

Paul writes in Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We are different from the world.
We follow a Holy God who expects us also to be holy.

Galatians 5:19-23 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  

Ephesians 4:25-32 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. 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.

As the church of Jesus Christ we are sanctified, holy, that is we are set apart to God.

           And we are to live our life accordingly.

                      We are to live our life differently than the world.

                                 We are to live our life according to the will of God.

WE ARE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST!

I’m glad to be part of God’s Church.
I’m proud to be called a Christian.

He was a supply preacher for a small town Texas Church.

He came in early on Sunday, preaching a sermon to the congregation, and then leaving after lunch.

Arriving early one Sunday he sat down at a local donut shop, opened his Bible and went over his sermon notes.

A man was sitting down the counter from him said, “You a preacher or something?”

He replied, “Yes I preach at the Christian Church here in town.”

He got excited and said, “Hey, I’m a member of that church.”

Now the church was small and the preacher knew all the regulars, so I said, “I’ve been preaching there for about three months and I’ve never seen you there.”

He looked at the preacher in a strange way and said, “I said I was a member of that church. I never said that I was fanatical about it!”

Are you fanatical about the Church?

           The word “fanatic” has a bad rap today.

When we think of a fanatic, we tend to think of someone that has gone crazy, who has lost all sense, when it come to what they believe in.

           But the word fanatic comes from the Latin that means: inspired by a God.

                      It has to do with our zeal, our enthusiasm, for what we believe in.

In Galatians 4:18 Paul writes: It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.

           Again I ask; Are you fanatical about the Church?

                                     Are you zealous for the Church?

                                            Are you enthusiastic about the Church?

We are the Church of Jesus Christ!

           We need to live like the church of Jesus Christ.

                      We need to be excited about the church of Jesus Christ.

                                 We need to be zealous, perhaps even fanatical about the church of Jesus Christ.

And we want You to be a part of this exciting Church!!!