A Charge to Discipleship - Week 2

He says, so all this authority has been given to me, so go and make disciples.

And defines what that looks like for us.

To all peoples, baptizing them in the truth of the Trinity, teaching them to observe all that he's commanded.

And then he ties it up again with the promise.

And behold, I am with you always.

That I will bring to pass all of these things by my work in you and by you.

This should be enough.

This should be enough.

I feel that I should be able to just simply read this to you.

And that the people of God should go, amen, and get busy.

But I fear there is more necessary.

And I know that there are no doctrines that very readily stay alive in our minds unless they're fed.

And so we need to be feeding them and we need to be about this work.

So what is the God-ordained institution meant to accomplish this?

To continue to remind us of the way in which we should be living.

It's the church.

He has given us this organization by which we are meant to fulfill the Great Commission.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 3, 9 and 10,

This is the great high calling for us as the church and as a church, as part of that.

That we have been given a mission in this world.

And there are ways in which we go about fulfilling that mission, which includes our meeting together.

But to that great end that we might see the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed amongst the people of the world.

I hope that that's something that excites your heart.

That you have such a degree of love and adoration for Him.

That you want His praises to be sung.

That you want more and more people to experience the transforming power of the gospel.

That they might forever tell of how great their God is.

Is He not great and worthy to be praised?

Should we not invite people into that?

That He might be praised in higher and higher degree.

And so the church is the methodology by which we press at each other.

That we move each other into that kind of living.

And that we remain in that place together.

And I will tell you that the study of the church in the scriptures is one of my favorite studies.

As a church leader, likely.

It's called ecclesiology, if any of you care at all.

The theology, so to speak, of the church.

Literally, ecclesiology means church knowledge or church logic, which I particularly prefer.

Rather than asking, as we look at the scriptures, what is the church?

What we need to be asking is, who is the church?

And the place that we need to be going to ask this very question is the scripture themselves.

We believe as a church in a doctrine called the sufficiency of scripture.

And that is that God has given to us all things necessary for holy living.

It is here in the Holy Bible.

This is why it's called this.

That we don't need anything out and beyond it.

Which isn't to say we shouldn't read a good book, but only insofar as the good book points us back to the scriptures.

We don't need to add a bunch of methodology to the methodology in the scriptures.

God has given us everything that we need.

God, when he had the scriptures penned by the Holy Spirit, didn't not know what was going to happen in the 21st century.

He didn't go, what? Simulcasts?

I had no idea that was a possibility.

He knew.

God is the church.

This is a vastly misunderstood topic in our day and time.

Wrongly, many people look at the Greek word ekklesia, which simply means gathering, and understand it to mean a gathering, an event, so to speak.

One evangelical writer put it this way.

For the modern evangelical, worship is defined exclusively by the individual's experience.

Worship, then, is not about adoring God, but by about being nourished with religious feelings.

So much so that the worshiper has become the object of worship.

Sunday worship is to be centered on my needs and desires.

I am at the center.

My needs are paramount.

Meet them or I will go to church elsewhere.

A large local church in our area advertises their multiple services in this way.

At 930, you have a traditional blend of praise and worship.

At 11, an inspiring and vibrant contemporary worship experience.

And at 11, I guess at the same time, on the same campus, contemporary acoustic worship.

Right?

Meeting all of the needs and all of the desires of the individual coming, who says they're coming to adore God.

But it has seemed that the object of worship has been turned around on the individual, the congregant, rather than the God that the congregation comes to worship.

What distinguishes the church from any other social club?

There are some things.

But it would seem in many churches, you simply have to show up and pay your dues and don't do anything that would embarrass the club.

Just be sure that you don't get out there and make the club look bad.

This is very consumption driven.

We live in such a consumer society and that is exactly what happens in most churches and in ours.

We don't need consumption.

In fact, I would say that if you are a consumer Christian, you have much to consider.

Much to consider.

What we need, rather, is participation.

We so often think of our churches as businesses.

This is evidenced in the way we talk.

Out of the outflow of our hearts, our mouths speak, beloved.

This is a truth that we cannot avoid in the scriptures.

We say things like, where do you attend church?

We ought to be asking questions like, who do you fellowship with?

We think of a church as a name, a building, a pastor, and a collection of programs.

A website.

Such a wrong way to think about church.

Church.

Now, I've got the whiteboard back from last week.

I'm going to draw you a picture.

I think this is the way most people consider what church looks like.

This is going to be my very rudimentary Jesus.

Church, then, is structured like this.

It's a triangle.

This is how every business that we're aware of is structured.

Someone at the top and a structure that plays out below this.

Good for business.

I applaud this for business, but this is not meant to be the structure of the church.

We, as a more biblical, in many ways, church, we've tried to take the tip of the pyramid off.

And biblically, we have a group of elders who give leadership to this.

But culturally, many of you put the pyramid back on the top.

Right?

That this is the structure.

Information is disseminated from the top.

Right?

So, I'm somehow holier than you.

I have some special granted access to Jesus.

You'll hear us talk a lot in terms of vision, church leaders will talk about.

And I think all that a church leader is really trying to say is,

there's a place I think we should go.

I could say these couple of weeks we're taking off from Mark is about vision casting.

Right?

But it's not that God has come to me and given me some kind of a dream that we're driving toward.

Right?

And I think a lot of people think in those terms,

this guy gets up and he says he has a vision.

He must be hanging out with Jesus.

We should do whatever he says.

The altar call presses at this type of thing.

People to think that they have to get up and go down to the quote unquote altar.

Didn't Jesus do away with sacrifice and that type of a system?

Somehow we built some stage out of wood and carpet and it's become a holy place.

And there's a man who's going to stand between you and God.

God, this is not healthy.

This is not the way the church should function.

But the congregants do this too.

Right?

Sitting and consuming.

Giving, paying, saying, put together programs, put together ministry.

Do things where I can plug in.

And we will expect you as the trained professional to reach people.

This is a shame.

And you know why?

Because all of you have the Spirit of God.

All of you are some expression of God's great work in the world.

You are necessary in the kingdom.

A man named Mark Dever, some of you may be familiar with.

A pastor of First Baptist Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

wrote a rather wonderful book called Nine Marks of a Healthy Church.

I would commend it to you if you'd like to read it.

Let me just read to you the way he begins.

Chapter 1.

And this, for him, was the beginning of a sermon series which became this book.

And this is how he actually started out the sermon.

Now, I want you to hear, he's going to say some things that have no application to our building at all.

I think their building is much nicer than ours.

Probably their program is a little bit nicer than ours.

But still get the flavor of what he's saying here.

So he gets up on a Sunday morning and he says,

So, how's it going?

Did you get enough sleep last night?

Did you have trouble finding a good parking place this morning?

Were the doors clearly marked?

Did the people welcome you as you came in?

Did the building seem nice and neat?

I wonder, did the church's name make it more difficult for you to decide to come in?

Or maybe that was part of the reason why you decided to come in.

And when you did come in, were the people friendly and welcoming?

Any trouble dropping the kids off?

Not a problem here, is it?

And what do you think about the stained glass?

I know I have the best view of it, but it's really pretty, isn't it?

Then again, maybe it's a little too traditional for you.

Are the pews comfortable?

Do you have a good view of all the activities from where you are sitting?

Can you see clearly?

Can you hear okay?

Is it warm enough for you right now?

Do you feel pretty comfortable?

And how about the bulletin?

Nice, clear, simple, pretty straightforward, wouldn't you say?

Not too complicated.

Maybe a little too staid.

Did you notice all the announcements in it?

And did you see all the programs listed in the church card?

There are a lot of them, aren't there?

Probably more than you've ever read.

Of course, it's easy to read, but I guess the print is kind of small, isn't it?

And there aren't any pictures.

I mean, it's so type-heavy.

That probably tells you a lot about the church, doesn't it?

You think this is probably the kind of church where they'd rather have thousands of words than pictures, right?

What about the people sitting around you?

Are they the kind you like to go to church with?

Yeah, I know you're too nervous to look around you right now, but you know who they are.

What do you think?

Are they the right age?

Are they the right race?

Are they the right social class?

Are they just like you?

And what about the service so far?

I mean, was it too difficult switching between the two hymnals?

You know, most churches just use one, and here you have to use two.

You've got to go to the green one, and then sometimes the beige one.

Had the leader seemed informed, yet not know-it-all-ish?

Competent, yet not overbearing?

There weren't too many announcements in the service were there.

I don't think so this morning.

Have the prayers been involving?

Have they engaged your heart and mind?

I'll skip.

There's two more pages.

The preacher does have a very difficult job, doesn't he?

The preacher has to be someone that you feel you can relate to and talk with

and let your hair down with or trust in some measure.

But he needs to seem holy, too, but not too holy.

You know, he needs to be knowledgeable, but not too knowledgeable.

He needs to be confident, but not too confident.

He needs to be compassionate, but not too compassionate.

And his sermon?

Well, his sermon needs to be good enough, relevant enough,

entertaining and engaging enough.

And certainly, short enough.

And he goes on for a whole other page beyond that,

listing off all of these criteria by which people shop churches.

The very fact that we tend to call the buildings that we meet in churches

says so much about our misunderstanding about what church is.

Out of the outflow of the heart,

every time you call this building the church,

it says something about what you think about church.

It reduces it.

It reduces it to a place and programs,

rather than being a people.

It's confusing to me.

When somebody says,

I'm going to drop something off at the church,

I say, how is that possible?

Our people live all over the place.

Who specifically are you talking about?

But it's become the cultural norm that we speak in this way.

In fact, we had called this building,

not the church,

but the meeting house,

is what we were trying to call it,

get to stick in those days,

for years.

And yet I found myself still calling other church buildings churches.

Which says something about what I thought about every other church in our region.

I had to adjust my heart concerning that,

to think of those as people groups gathering in a place under a name,

but as people, as eternal beings,

things that will last forever,

versus all of this which is going to turn to dust.

Not a single bit.

The name Christ Family Church,

our website,

our signs are already turning to dust.

This building,

it's all passing away.

But you guys are eternal.

You have eternal souls,

and we are the church.

If you have a bulletin,

I hope everybody got one today.

You'll notice on the front of it,

it says this every single week.

We try to do it in our speaking as well,

but it says,

Welcome to 60 South,

the meeting place of Christ Family Church.

We've just coined a name for the property,

so we could call it something,

because meeting house was taking too much time to get out.

It's what the Puritans used to call their places of gathering.

So we call it 60 South.

If you don't like it,

take it up with Wes.

He came up with the name.

I didn't care,

so we started calling it that.

We're located on the side of 60 South,

so there you have it.

This is just where we gather.

It's not who we are, praise God.

This building doesn't define us.

It ought not, anyway.

This is an improper way of thinking about church.

The better way,

the better way to understand that the term ecclesia

is the gathered ones.

Not that church is an event,

but rather a people centered on the event,

namely Christ redeeming his people,

his life, his death, and his resurrection.

That this is what we are gathered around as a people.

Ecclesia, the gathered ones.

Now the church is both invisible and visible.

We can see,

there's some things we can tangibly touch about the church.

We see churches in function in our world today,

but it's also invisible,

which is the way that God sees it,

which would be all true believers for all time.

The scriptures speak of the church in this manner

rather regularly.

The church is both universal and it's local.

The scriptures once again do this.

The church is universal.

All believers alive today,

right now are the church,

capital C.

But the more regular expression of church

that we see in the scriptures

is the local form that's most mentioned.

And that's what we would be considered.

We're a local church.

And just for your sake

and for your future study,

I've been kind of working on a definition

of the local church.

Actually, let me say this is a working definition,

but I put it in the notes section of your bulletin

and it goes like this.

The local church

is a community of regenerate disciples of Jesus Christ,

believers,

true believers of Jesus Christ,

organized under qualified leadership

who gather regularly

to grow in the knowledge of God,

to be equipped for every good work,

and to observe the biblical sacraments

of baptism and the Lord's Supper

to the end

that the Great Commission is fulfilled.

This, I think,

is a pretty good biblical definition

of what the local church is.

It distinguishes it

rather from

a Bible study you might participate in.

Right?

If you can't meet all these criteria,

then it's not a church.

It's not an expression of that word,

ecclesia.

It may even distinguish it

from some of the things

that are called church in our area

that are really much more like

large weekly conferences.

There's a place and a time for that,

but I think that we must rightly understand

what church should regularly look like

in our lives

if we care at all,

and we should,

about the fulfillment of the Great Commission.

All right, let's land on our text for today.

The major part of our text, anyway.

Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Just as a little

bibliology for you.

The way your Bible is organized

is not in chronological order.

But you have

Paul's epistles

with the pastoral epistles

being at the end.

Then the book of Hebrews.

We're not exactly sure

who wrote Hebrews,

although many people

believe it was Paul.

Here it's placed at the end

of the Pauline epistles

because maybe,

but maybe not.

But then beyond that,

you have the other writers.

So Peter, John, etc.

And so you know

you can separate it out that way.

Help you find

the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 10, verses 19-25.

Hebrews 10:19–25

Therefore, brothers,

since we have confidence

to enter the holy places

by the blood of Jesus,

by the new and living way

that He opened for us

through the curtain,

that is,

through His flesh,

and since we have a great priest

over the house of God,

let us draw near

with a true heart

in full assurance of faith,

with our hearts

sprinkled clean

from an evil conscience,

and our bodies washed

with pure water.

Let us hold fast

the confession

of our hope

without wavering,

for He who promised

is faithful.

And let us consider

how to stir up

one another

to love and good works,

not neglecting

to meet together

as is the habit of some,

but encouraging

one another

and all the more

as they see the day

drawing near.

Now, what I want us

to primarily draw

out of this text

this morning

is the corporate nature

of God's people.

If you look at the very beginning

of verse 22,

the writer of Hebrews says,

let us draw near.

And this is a single Greek word,

proserkamai.

It's plural,

present tense,

active voice,

subjective mood,

which means it's contingent

on something.

And so to draw out that,

let us draw near

at greater length,

it could be said,

let us continually draw near

because we can in Christ.

Because of what Christ

has accomplished

on our behalf,

one of the blessings,

one of the outworkings

of that is that

we get to gather together.

We get to draw near to God

together as a community

of faith.

As Kyle says so regularly

and I love,

as a faith family together.

Notice that's what

those first three verses

are about,

19, 20, and 21,

the accomplished work

of Christ.

So we get to draw together

and look at the rest

of the plural pronouns

in verse 19,

since we have confidence.

Verse 20,

that he opened for us.

Verse 21,

since we have a great priest.

Verse 22,

once again,

let us,

our hearts,

our bodies.

Verse 23,

let us hold fast

the confession of our hope.

Verse 24,

let us consider.

So we are to draw close together

in celebration and worship of God,

holding fast the confession

of our hope without wavering.

This is the doctrinal part

of our learning together,

holding true the gospel doctrines,

stirring up one another,

encouraging one another,

pressing at one another

to love and good works,

and all the more,

as we see the day drawing near.

This is meant to be the activity

of the church,

right?

That we are firmly planted,

our feet are firmly planted

in doctrinal truth,

and we press at each other

for the going,

the loving,

and the doing of good works.

Any expression of Christianity

devoid of the church

is foreign

to the pages of Scripture.

It does not exist.

Just think about

the biblical metaphors

for the church.

The church is called

a body made up of parts,

a household

made up of family members,

a temple

made up of living stones.

Apart from them,

the individual

makes no sense.

They were created

to exist together.

These are all pictures

of life together.

Now, even biblical analogies

tend to fall short, right?

Certainly your body

can function without part of it.

Some parts are more vital

than others.

But you will in some degree

be handicapped,

will you not?

My back seems to have

given up on me today.

I can still function

as a human being,

can I not?

Sure trying anyway.

But I'm handicapped

in some regard

because I don't have

the full function

of my back.

All the parts

are necessary

and not

for filling seats.

It's really not

that important,

you know,

that your participation,

this is for you,

this is me,

bringing a meal to you,

feeding you.

I'm glad you're here.

I want you to be fed.

I want to preach

the good news

of Jesus Christ to you.

You know,

I do the same amount

of preparation

whether it's ten of you

or however many

are here today.

It doesn't really matter.

You come and you sit.

It matters for you

but it doesn't matter

for the church.

You've got to get involved.

You have to participate.

You have to be part

of this process together.

So you ready?

So not this.

We're going to draw

an X through that version.

Let me draw Jesus again.

Boy, that crown

just got bigger.

I'm sure Jesus' crown fits.

The church rather

should look more like this

and hang with me.

Let me explain

my perspective here.

This is a circle

on its side.

Get that?

Rather than trying

to draw it from above

or make it just

this weird straight line.

A group of believers

a gathering

an ecclesia

gathered around

the event

and that is

the life, death

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ

linking arms together

certainly playing

different roles

in that process.

You look back

at my very definition

of the local church

and it includes

gathered under

qualified leadership.

But nonetheless

that we're all

part of this.

We're all linking

arms together.

we're all looking

for direction

from Christ himself.

We do that

by his word

as revealed to us

by the spirit.

This is the way

that this functions.

Right?

A priesthood

of believers

with different roles

to play

but nonetheless

that we all recognize

that we're part

of this process.

We need

one another.

I'm asserting

that you cannot

be a faithful

disciple

of Christ

apart

from the church.

Exactly what I'm

saying to you.

You cannot be

a faithful disciple

of Christ

apart

from the church.

Many Christians

merely attend

a worship service

of the church.

Many of you

merely consume

and do not

participate.

Now I know

I know

that a lot of you

are in a

transitionary part

of your life

college students

particularly.

Right?

You're only up here

nine months

out of the year

but I would just

say to you

you're up here

nine months

out of the year.

Three quarters

of your time

has spent living

in a place

called Dahlonega

home

and invest

and be involved.

Many of you

do this well

and I'm thankful

for you.

Many of you

have caught this

already

and you're coming

and doing this.

If you're just

coming

and you're just

consuming

this is what

you're up to

let me make

a suggestion

to you.

If that's all

you're doing

and that's all

you're ever

going to do

let me make

a suggestion

to you.

Sleep in

on Sunday mornings.

Get up

have a nice

leisurely

eleven o'clock

breakfast.

Go find

a beautiful

place

in these

gorgeous

mountains

to go

sit

and listen

to a better

preacher

than me

on your

iPod.

There are

better

preachers

than me.

John Piper,

John MacArthur,

Martin Lloyd-Jones,

you can get

all of his

stuff on

Ephesians,

it's phenomenal,

Arturo

Azerdia.

Just go

and consume

it.

It's out

there for

you,

floating

around.

Eat away

until you're

full.

Not argue

that there's

no better

music,

but do you

know that

Wes and Liz

have an

album out

and they're

working on

another one?

So listen

to the music.

Sing along

at the top

of your lungs

in your car

by yourself.

If that's

all you're

ever going

to do,

why?

Why come

here and

why do

this?

I'm telling you

it makes

no sense

to me.

Why do

we gather

in this

way?

Because we're

a people,

a community

drawn together.

Because we

need to be

with people

who know

us,

who know

what we

struggle

with.

We've

been finding

Sam and

I as we're

continuing to

minister how

many people

in our church

struggle with

depression.

And we've

just kind of

been wrestling

with this,

like what is

going on

in our

church?

Why are

so many

people struggling

with depression?

And it just

kind of struck

me as I've

been doing

some reading

on the matter

that it's

not just

our church,

it's our

culture.

Maybe it's

just the

human condition

in general.

People struggle

with depression.

And so I

said to Sam

just the other

day,

it's probably

a really

wonderful thing

that we're

coming to

this realization

because it

means that

people are

letting us

know them.

That they're

actually putting

down the mask,

they're letting

the veneer be

stripped away,

they're actually

coming and being

honest about the

things that are

going on in

their life.

That's a good

thing.

We need

this.

We need to

expose ourselves.

It's the healthiest

thing that can

happen for my

Christian walk,

is that I say

to a group of

believers,

I'm failing.

Let me tell you

how I'm failing.

I need your

prayers and I

need your

support.

There are

burdens in my

life I cannot

bear on my

own.

We need

one another.

You need a

pastor who's

paying attention

to the ebbs and

flows to which

way the wind is

blowing in the

congregation so

that he can take

a text and not

only tell you

what it means

generally, but

tell you what it

means specifically.

John Piper and

all the other

guys that I

listed for you

can't do that.

They don't

know you.

A great old

adage is that a

shepherd should

smell like a

sheep.

I agree.

We can all be

stinky together.

Can we?

We are meant to

be an army,

not an audience.

There's a time

for this.

But we're meant

to be mobilized

as an army on

a mission.

And let me

remind you what

that means.

The kind of

nagging,

haunting words

of Jesus from

Mark 8,

Mark 8:34

verse 34.

I shared with

you last week

where Jesus

says,

if anyone

would come

after me,

let him deny

himself and

take up his

cross and

follow me.

Let him put

aside his

dreams and his

goals.

Let him instead

take up my

dreams and my

goals, which is

going to be

hard and it's

going to mean

death for them

and let him

follow me.

And at the

end of Mark,

he says,

again, this is a

re-declaration of

the Great

Commission, Mark

16, 15, and

16.

Go into all the

world and

proclaim the

gospel to the

whole creation.

Whoever believes

and is baptized

will be saved,

but whoever does

not believe will

be condemned.

And again, when

he appears to

the disciples in

Acts 1, 8, he

says, you will

see power when

the Holy Spirit

has come upon

you and you

will be my

witnesses in

Jerusalem and

in all Judea

and Samaria

and to the

ends of the

earth in these

ever-increasing

spheres of

influence, these

circles radiating

out from the

place that they

were, Jerusalem,

Judea, Samaria,

and to the end

of the earth.

And we see this

begin happening

just a few

chapters later

as we see

Peter's great

sermon and many

thousands come

to faith in

Christ.

And then in

Acts 5, 40

through 42,

after the

apostles are

taken to

trial and

they're then

let go,

they're told

not to speak

in the name of

Jesus anymore,

Acts 5,

Acts 5:40

verse 40,

and when they

had called

in the

apostles,

they beat

them and

charged them

not to speak

in the name

of Jesus

and let

them go.

Now just

pause for a

moment and

consider yourself

in that

situation.

Somebody beats

you, a

court beats

you and

tells you not

to speak in

the name of

Jesus anymore,

but they

respond in

such a

peculiar way,

right, in

such a

taking up

their cross

and dying

kind of a

way.

Then they

left the

presence of

the council,

rejoicing that

they were

counterworthy

to suffer

dishonor for

the name.

And then

listen to what

they do,

and every

day in

the temple

and from

house to

house,

they did

not cease

teaching and

preaching that

the Christ

is Jesus.

They did the

very opposite

thing of what

they were

charged to do

because they

understood that

they were an

army with a

mission.

And they

worked both

overtly and

covertly.

They went

into the

temple itself.

This was a

public place of

gathering and

teaching,

and they

were heard

proclaiming that

Jesus is the

Christ, and

they did it as

well from

house to

house to

house.

This is our

calling, beloved,

in Christ.

It's up on the

screen all the

time.

I think it's up

there now.

It is.

It's in your

bulletin.

I want you to

know the

vision statement

of our church.

It's important

that you know

it.

I was about a

year ago,

we were about

to have our

men's retreat

here at the

end of February.

About a year

ago,

we were

gone on our

men's retreat,

and a speaker,

which was a

good friend of

Darrell Allison's,

was there,

and we were

just talking

about vision,

and he's a

pastor of a

church,

and I was

talking about

the vision

statement of

our church,

and I told

him what it

was, and

he goes,

I really like

that.

I'm like,

yeah, we

try to put

it on stuff

a lot.

We really

try to press

that vision

at people,

and then I

won't name

the person,

not here at

all today,

or would be,

but he goes

walking by,

and I said,

hey, tell

him what our

vision statement

is, and he

went,

it starts

Christ's

family church,

exists,

and I'm

like, okay,

I guess I

have some

work to do

concerning this.

It's wordy,

I know,

it's wordy,

I know,

Christ's

family church

exists to

glorify God,

the great

high calling

of all

creation is

to glorify

God,

in what way?

By

experience and

proclaiming and

displaying the

supremacy of

Jesus Christ

in all things

to all peoples,

actually knowing

that it's true

that Jesus Christ

is supreme,

that he has

subjected all

things to

himself,

that in his

life, death,

and resurrection,

he has become

better than

everything else

in this world,

and that we

know that to

be true in

our own

experience,

the reality

in our lives,

and we

display that

in the way

that we

live,

and we

certainly

tell people

about it.

Sometimes I

wish I was

experiencing,

displaying,

and proclaiming,

because it

makes more

sense,

but it

sounds better,

experiencing,

proclaiming,

and displaying

the supremacy

of Jesus Christ

in all things

and to all

people.

So in all

things,

in the midst

of suffering,

both the good

times and the

bad in our

lives,

and to everyone,

every possible

place,

we can preach

the good news

of Jesus

Christ.

This is why

Christ Family

Church exists.

I think we

are a far cry

from accomplishing

this thing.

Who is our

Jerusalem,

our Judea,

and our

Samaria?

Certainly we

know what the

end of the

earth means.

We get all

peoples.

I think you

could argue

much about the

regional nature

of this type

of thing.

Jerusalem

could be our

Dahlonega,

and Judea

could be the

county surrounding

us, and Samaria

could be all of

Georgia.

It doesn't really

matter, though.

We're meant to

be going, is the

point.

We're meant to

start where we

are and continue

to go.

Let's just start

with this.

Last week I

shared with you

the three counties

in which we

live, and again

I know that not

all of you can

see this, Hall,

Lumpkin, Dawson

counties.

The dots here

are Gainesville,

Dahlonega,

Dawsonville.

My mind went

totally blank.

And the star,

which probably

looks like an

amoeba to you,

is where our

church building is

located, kind of

central in these

areas.

In this area

there's 232,000

people.

This is recent

census data.

It's probably

gone up since

then.

The Chattahoochee

Baptist Association,

which we're a

part of,

estimates that

80% of this

232,000 people

are unchurched.

So this is

self-reported

people who

attend church.

It doesn't

really specify

denomination.

I think that

this is a very

optimistic number

as a result of

that.

Unchurched.

But let's

use it as a

starting point,

just as a

number to

roll around

in your head,

that there

are 185,600

people in

these counties

around us

that in many

ways we

touch.

That there

are our

spheres, the

little places

that we run,

the circles that

we work and

play and sleep

in, those of

you who live

on campus.

And there are

people in that

category that are

dying and going

to hell, eternal

beings that matter

immensely.

And it's our

job to share

the gospel with

them.

God is at

work.

He wants to

save people.

And I think

that often he

delays blessing

because he wants

to bless us.

He wants us to

participate in the

blessing of the

gospel.

He wants us to

be obedient to

his call.

He wants to

see us grow up

in our faith and

actually do the

things that he's

asked us to do

that he might

pour out blessing

on us in

immense ways.

Now, what is

the primary mode

our church is

going to work

to this end?

To being a

people who are

changed, to

shift the

culture, that

our church is

different, that

we are all

actively sharing

our faith.

Certainly we

want to do that

on Sunday

mornings.

Anytime we

gather together

as a church,

we should be

doing this.

We should be

lifting high

Jesus Christ.

In my

preaching, every

sermon should

be a gospel

sermon.

Every text of

scriptures,

scriptures, just

cries out the

gospel.

A rapper once

said that all

roads in the

Bible lead to

Galgotha.

It's very true

of the scriptures.

This should be

the case for

us.

You should hear

it in everything

that I'm saying.

Certainly it should

be true in the

way in which we

sing, in the way

in which we pray

together.

Our heart should

be turned towards

Christ as we meet

together in this

setting because this

is in some degree

consumeristic.

There's only so

much interrelating

and connecting

with people you

can do before

and after the

service.

It is the

nature of what

we have.

We don't have a

big grand

foyer where you

can stand around

and drink coffee

in.

We clog up the

hall very

effectively every

Sunday morning

trying to do

that.

Don't we?

Go across the

hall.

It's better over

there.

But it's the

nature of it.

It's going to be

true of it.

So what's the

primary way we're

going to do

this?

And that's

going to be

through community

groups.

Through community

groups.

It has always

been the intention

of our community

groups to both

build community

with each other

to reach community

for that great

end.

In fact, I'll

suggest a name

change this

morning.

I may try to

work this into

more that we're

doing.

Instead of calling

them community

groups, calling

them community

outreach groups.

Because I think

that we've lost

in some sense that

vision of what

we're meant to be

doing together.

Gathering together

as a small unit of

the greater army in

order to accomplish

the great gospel end

of reaching our

communities around

us.

Community outreach

groups, this is the

activity we're meant

to be about together.

Now, we handed out,

and I don't think we

quite had enough for

everybody, which I

apologize for, but we

handed out a sheet

that has one another

verses on it.

I want you to grab

that out if you have

one.

If you don't have

one, if someone's

near you, share with

somebody who doesn't

have one.

If you don't have

one at all, it's

okay.

You're going to be

all right.

You're not going to

miss out on everything

not having this.

But we would say in

church that it's very

important that we do

the one another's of

scripture, right?

If you've been around

here for very long

at all, you've heard

me say that.

I say it in passing

quite often.

What am I talking

about?

The one another's?

It's these, all these

things, all the places

in which we're told

how to interact with

each other.

And these aren't the

only places.

Certainly there are

other instructions

given to us.

Typically it's a

repetition of many of

the things that you

read here that just

don't have the phrase

one another in it,

right?

And those are good

and valuable too.

I'm not trying to

elevate these in

any way, but a

pretty quick way we

can identify the way

we're meant to live

together is to look

at these one another

verses.

The one another

that's always being

referred to as the

people of God with

each other, right?

One person of God to

another person of God.

The way in which we're

meant to relate

together.

I've highlighted some

of them for you.

Bold faced them for

you.

John 13, 14.

If I then, your Lord

and teachers, as Jesus

talking, have washed

your feet, you also

ought to wash one

another's feet.

Not literally,

figuratively serving

in this way.

We're meant to serve

one another.

Do lowly jobs for

one another.

John 15, 12.

This is my commandment,

that you love one

another as I have

loved you.

Jesus loved us to the

point of death on the

cross.

Romans 12, 16.

Live in harmony with

one another.

Do not be haughty, but

associate with the

lowly.

Never be wise in your

own sight.

Romans 16, 16.

Greet one another with

a holy kiss.

This was a family

affection to kiss a

family member.

And the church had

begun doing this as

people were being

kicked out of their

families.

They would greet each

other as a faith

family, as Kyle always

says, and it became

known as a holy kiss.

I'm not suggesting that

we kiss one another,

but we ought to greet

each other as family.

Like, we ought to be

pulling people in the

way you should with a

family member.

All the churches of

Christ greet you.

1 Corinthians 11, 33.

So then, my brothers,

when you come together

to eat, wait for one

another.

Galatians 6, 2.

Bear one another's

burdens, and so

fulfill the law of

Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5, 11.

Therefore, encourage one

another and build one

another up, just as you

are doing.

Hebrews 3, 13.

But exhort one another

every day, as long as

it is called today, that

none of you may be

hardened by the

deceitfulness of sin.

Skip down, I'll come

back to Hebrews 10.

James 5, 16.

Therefore, confess your

sins to one another, and

pray for one another that

you may be healed.

The prayer of a

righteous person has

great power as it is

working.

This is the way we're

meant to function

together, beloved, and

you can't do it simply

showing up on a Sunday

morning, finding your

seat, getting up, and

walking back out.

For those of you who are

highly involved here, does

it bother you that you

don't know everyone's

name this morning?

It bothers me to no end.

It drives me crazy that I

don't even recognize some

of your faces.

That might be because it's

your first time here this

morning.

It may not be because you

slip in, and you hang out

in the hall for a little

while, and you sit down,

you get up, and you go,

and I never have a chance

to shake your hand and to

learn your name.

And for those of you who

know me, you know that it

takes me a couple times of

doing that to remember who

you are.

It drives me crazy.

Are you a person who

doesn't feel known?

You feel like you're

falling through the cracks?

This is not the setting to

be known in.

It's difficult to do that.

This is not too many people

to know, but we just have

to be able to take the

time to get to know you.

How do you do that?

You've got to do it in a

different setting.

You've got to do it in a

different setting.

And so all these functions,

these one another's, are

the way in which the church

lives together.

So the question for you is,

do you really love the

church?

Do you love the people of

the church, or do you love

programs and buildings and

maybe a pastor, or do you

love people?

If we love Christ, we will

love what he loves.

And Jesus loves the church.

Ephesians 5.25 says,

Christ loved the church and

he gave himself up for her.

Jesus loved the church

because Jesus purchased the

church.

Acts 20.28 says,

pay careful attention to

yourselves and to all the

flock in which the Holy

Spirit has made you

overseers, to care for the

church of God, which he,

being Christ, obtained with

his own blood.

He loves the church because

he purchased the church, and

Jesus himself identifies with

the church.

In Acts 9.4, remember Saul,

soon to be Paul's blinding

experience on the road.

Acts 9.4 says,

and Saul, falling to the

ground, he heard a voice

saying to him, Saul, Saul,

why are you persecuting me?

If we love Christ, we're

going to love what he loves.

And this is the church.

We love the church because

it's the gospel means, it's a

picture of the gospel, it's

this expression of God's

grace.

Every one of you who is

found in Christ is so

precious because you're a

picture of the gospel at

work.

You're a picture of the

transforming power of the

gospel.

I love it.

One of my favorite things

that we do as a church is we

get testimonies for new

members, and I get to read

them, and I get to read

these wonderful stories of

God's redemptive work in the

lives of individuals.

It is a pleasure to me.

And the drive of all of this

is we're loving one another,

as we're pressing at one

another, as we're bearing one

another's burdens, is so

that, so that we will be

going.

That's not the end itself,

that all of your emotional

issues get healed, but so

that they do, so that you

can go and share the good

news of Jesus Christ, so

that the transforming power

of the work is alive in your

life, and that you can go

and bring it about in the

lives of others.

Let me read to you again

Hebrews 10, 24 and 25.

That is back on your sheet,

if you care to look.

And let us consider how to

stir up one another to love

and good works.

not neglecting to meet

together as is the habit of

some, but encouraging one

another, and all the more

as you see the day drawing

near.

So this is the drive of that

together.

You need to be involved,

involved, participating,

marching with a local

congregation.

We love to have you here, so

hear me clearly.

We are so thankful that you're

here, but it doesn't have to

be here.

We care first and foremost

about the kingdom of God.

We care so deeply about the

gospel and about our Jesus.

It's good news.

It's about Him.

And if you want to go march

with another congregation,

just go do it.

Just be marching.

Just be involved.

Engage yourself in the life of

a church.

If you're here, I hope it's

because you enjoy being here,

and I hope it's because you

want to be here for the right

reasons, and if you're not

already involved to the degree

that you should be, I would

invite you to do that very

thing.

Get more involved in the

activity of our church.

If you are not involved in a

community group, and you say

that you're part of the life of

this church, you need to be

involved in a community group.

You need to engage in that

way.

Members, let me remind you of

the covenant you signed when

you became a member of this

church.

There are seven commitments

that you made in that

covenant to this congregation.

Four of those seven have to do

with the way in which we live

with one another.

The second one, to love my

family, the church, and the

world with the gospel of Jesus