2026 Summer Gospel Meeting: James Luedecke - Jesus Built One Church, But How Do We Find It Today?

I'm so glad to be here. I'm glad you're here.

I'm excited tonight that we're going to continue

in our series of lessons about restoring New

Testament Christianity. If you were here yesterday,

you remember we talked about as the people of

God, we need to cultivate a mission mindset.

And part of that mindset needs to be to be about

the work of helping restore the church that Jesus

built. And yesterday afternoon, we talked about

how we really have no hope. in accomplishing

that mission if we don't trust the Scriptures

as our sole source of authority in religion.

And we're going to continue along in this vein

of investigating and looking into the great need

that we have today and the desire we should have

in our hearts to go back to the Bible, to find

our faith, to find our doctrine, to find our

practice in the Scriptures. And we do all that,

of course, to the honor and glory of that Lamb

of God that we sang about tonight, Jesus Christ.

It's all to His glory that we do it. I encourage

you to come back throughout this meeting as often

as you can. You see there on the screen that

we're going to have several more meetings. We're

going to be meeting every night at 7 o 'clock

this week, 10 .30 and 2 o 'clock on Sunday. And

these are some of the topics that we're going

to be covering in the course of this series.

The title of my lesson tonight comes in the form

of a statement, a true statement, combined with

a question. And the true statement is this, Jesus

built one church. And we're going to see that

from the scriptures in just a moment. If Jesus

built one church, if that statement is true and

it is, the question then becomes for us today,

how do we find the church that Jesus built. How

would we go out into our community, into whatever

region of the world we live in, and how would

we go about finding today, in 2026, that one

and the same church that Jesus built. That's

what we're going to study and focus on tonight.

And I want to go back and remind you of some

things that are so very important for us to know

and understand. Want to go all the way back to

the book of Daniel okay in the Old Testament

the prophet Daniel remember God's people were

in Babylon and Daniel a Jew was a servant of

King Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar had dreams

and Nebuchadnezzar didn't understand his dreams

and and he was troubled by his dreams and so

He comes to Daniel and Daniel by the power of

God is able to tell him his dream and tell him

the interpretation of his dream. And in the process

of Daniel explaining the interpretation of the

king's dream, he makes a prophecy. In Daniel

2 .44 he says, in these days, the days of the

kings of that fourth world empire that Daniel

speaks about, in the days of those kings shall

the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall

never be destroyed. and the kingdom shall not

be left to other people, but it shall break in

pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it

shall stand forever." God promised, through the

interpretation of this dream, 600 years before

Christ, that He would someday set up an everlasting

kingdom. Now fast forward 600 years. to the life

of Christ. Jesus has just been baptized by John

in the River Jordan in Matthew chapter 3. And

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

in Matthew chapter 4 he's tempted of the devil,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

40 days in the wilderness. And then Jesus begins

his teaching ministry, his public preaching ministry

in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17. And I want you

Matthew 4:17

to notice what was the first thing that Jesus

taught and he preached. In Matthew 4 17 it says

from that time Jesus began to preach and to say

repent. Why? He said for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand that kingdom that Daniel had prophesied

about 600 years before Jesus says you need to

get ready You need to repent because that very

kingdom the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It

is nearby It is soon to come You know when Jesus

was on trial before Pilate he said some things

about the kingdom that are important for us to

understand These statements that Jesus made to

Pilate while he was on trial help us understand

the nature of this everlasting kingdom in John

18 36 Jesus told Pilate the Roman governor. He

said my kingdom is not of this world My kingdom

is not of this world if my kingdom were of this

world, then would my servants fight? That I should

not be delivered to the Jews But now is my kingdom

not from hints Jesus says You know Jesus didn't

come to set up a worldly kingdom, an earthly

empire. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom.

It's important for us to understand the nature

of this kingdom, this everlasting kingdom. It's

a spiritual kingdom, not an earthly kingdom.

Also something Jesus taught during his teaching

ministry. He made a promise to Peter about this

kingdom in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Peter

Matthew 16:18

made a confession that Jesus was the Christ,

the Son of the living God. And Jesus blessed

Peter for that confession. And Jesus told Peter,

I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. And

upon this rock I will build my church and the

gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against

it. That's Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Jesus

Matthew 16:18

made a promise here that he would build his church.

Then notice what he told Peter immediately after

making this promise to build his church He tells

Peter I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom

of heaven What we understand from this verse

we see Jesus using the word church and kingdom

interchangeably and that's because the church

is the earthly expression or manifestation of

this heavenly spiritual everlasting kingdom That

God promised to set up in the days of the Roman

Empire in the days in which Jesus lived died,

was buried, and rose from the dead. The church

is the earthly expression of that spiritual kingdom.

Now before we go any further, we see Jesus using

the word church there in Matthew 16 verse 18.

Matthew 16:18

We need to understand clearly what the word church

means. We don't want to have a misunderstanding

about what the church means if we're going to

be talking about and studying the church. The

word church from our English King James Version

of our Bibles comes from an ancient Greek word

and that Greek word is ecclesia. The ancient

Greek word that is translated church in our New

Testament is the Greek word ecclesia and the

Greek word ecclesia simply means the called out.

The called out. That's the most basic definition

of this Greek word Ecclesia translated church

in our New Testaments. The church is all of God's

called out people. All of God's called out people.

That's what the church really is. What have we

as God's people been called out of? Well first

we've been called out of sin and we've been called

into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ

through the gospel. And when people are called

out of sin through the gospel into salvation,

they become a part of the church. God's called

out people. God's people are also called out

of the world and into this spiritual kingdom

that we're talking about tonight. God's people

have also been called out of the darkness of

sin and error and been called into the light

of Christ and the truth that he brings to us.

So this is what it means to be the called out.

We've been called out of something very terrible

and very damning and we've been called into something

very wonderful and amazing and To be part of

this called out people is what it truly means

to be a part of the church That's what the church

literally means now from this definition of the

word church We can see and understand that the

church is really not the building, right? Now

God's called out people can meet and assemble

in a building Right, but the church is not the

building Church is really not the building also

church is not the service or the exercises of

our worship assembly Sometimes people use the

word church that way they say well on Sundays

we go do church Church is really not something

you do. Okay now you can go and assemble with

the church and you can worship God But the worship

we offer up to God the exercises of our assemblies.

That's not really church though it involves us

as the people of God coming together to worship.

When you hear the word church, we need to be

thinking about people. We need to be thinking

about people. We need to be thinking about God's

people, people He has called out of sin into

a saving relationship with Him through His Son

Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus paid a high price. As

Brother Les mentioned in his prayer tonight,

he paid a high price to purchase the church.

Jesus had to die to purchase the church. Jesus

was buried and he was resurrected and all that

was a part of God's plan to save us and to purchase

the church. In Acts 20 and 28 this is something

that Paul mentions to the elders of the church

at Ephesus. He tells those elders to take heed

unto themselves and to all the flock over which

the Holy Ghost had made them overseers and he

tells those elders to feed. to shepherd the church

of God. And notice what he says about the church

of God, which he had purchased. Jesus purchased

that church with his own blood. Jesus paid the

highest price imaginable. He made the ultimate

sacrifice. He laid down his life. He willingly

went to a cross and subjected himself to all

that torture, all that pain, all that humility.

He did all that as the book of Hebrews says for

the joy that was set before him He saw on the

other side of the cross that his father would

be true to the promise to raise him up and to

set him on a throne at the right hand of God

and give him the kingdom and Allow him to be

the head over this body this church that we're

talking about tonight We need to understand that

a very high price was paced by Jesus himself

to purchase the church The resurrected Jesus

is the one who has been given all authority over

all things pertaining to the church You remember

after his death burial and resurrection in Matthew

Matthew 28:18

chapter 28 verse 18 Jesus appeared in resurrected

form to his disciples and he said Gee, the Bible

says in Matthew 28 18 Jesus came and spake unto

them saying all power Jesus said all power is

given unto me in heaven and in earth The resurrected

Jesus was given all power, all authority in heaven

and in earth. And because of this, Jesus is the

head of this church that we're talking about

today, this spiritual kingdom. You know, the

church was very important to Christ. This kingdom

was very important, so important that Jesus then

went on to spend 40 days with His apostles, teaching

them things about that coming kingdom. In Acts

Acts 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, these are the days, counting down

the days leading up to when Jesus would build

His church in Acts 2. The Bible says that He

spent 40 days with them, speaking of the things

pertaining to the kingdom of God. Now, at this

point I want to stop right here and I want us

to consider everything we've seen from the scriptures

tonight. What is it teaching us and what is it

telling us about the church? It's telling us

that Jesus is the one who announced the coming

of the kingdom. It's telling us that He taught

a lot about the kingdom. It's telling us that

Jesus promised to build His church. He claimed

that church. He called it My church. The Bible

tells us He shed His blood to purchase that church.

He was given all authority over it and He prepared

the Apostles for its coming. Now based on these

facts that we've seen from Scripture, Do you

think any man has any right whatsoever to claim

a position or usurp the authority of Jesus to

be the head of the church? If Jesus did all this

for the church, I believe he's the only rightful

one who deserves to be the head of the church,

don't you? In fact, that's what Colossians 1

and 18 says, that he is the head of the body,

the church. No man. Just Jesus. No man died.

No other human being died for the church. No

other human being claimed the church, said it

was my church. No other human promised to build

it. No one taught as much about it as Jesus did.

No one else was given authority over it but Christ

alone. And no man. Living today who has ever

lived or ever will live no man has any right

to claim Authority and to be the head of the

church and I want to tell you something else.

No man I don't care who he is has any right to

found some organization and build it up to Compete

with the church that Jesus built and to be like

an alternative form of that church You've got

Jesus's church, and then you got a church that

some man built No, man has any right to do that

to come along after Jesus, after He's already

built His church and raise up another religious

organization and say this is my church, this

is my group. You can be a part of the Lord's

church or you can come to be a part of my church,

my man -made church. No man has any right to

do that because Jesus and Him alone has been

given authority over all things pertaining to

the church. He is the head of that body. Now

I want to go back to Matthew 16 18 and and notice

something that's so very important When Jesus

promised to build his church, he only promised

to build one church He only promised to build

one church in Matthew 16 18 He told Peter I will

build my church and the word church is singular

Jesus didn't say Peter. I'm gonna build many

different churches Peter didn't Jesus didn't

tell Peter that. He didn't promise to build multiple

churches, but only one. In Acts chapter 2, when

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Jesus did build his church, we find that those

baptized believers were added to only one church.

In Acts chapter 2, Peter and the apostles preach

Acts 2 · chapter mention

the gospel. They preach the death, burial, and

resurrection of Jesus. They tell them to repent

and be baptized. And if they would, God would

forgive them of their sins and give them the

gift of the Holy Spirit. And then Acts 2 .41

says, they that gladly received His word, those

who gladly received the preaching of the gospel,

they were baptized, just like Peter commanded

them to do. And it says the same day, at that

very time, There were added unto them about 3

,000 souls. 3 ,000 people heard the gospel, believed

it, obeyed it in baptism, and they were added

to something. What were they added to? They were

added to this one church that Jesus promised

to build. We skip now just six more verses in

Acts 2 .47. It says that these 3 ,000 were praising

God and having favor with all the people and

the Lord added to the church daily. such as should

be saved. The Bible doesn't say that the Lord

added these three thousands into multiple different

divided denominations. It doesn't say that the

Lord added them to many different churches. It

says the Lord added them to the church. That

word church is singular. Because just like Jesus

promised in Matthew 16 to only build one church,

when it came time to build it, guess what Jesus

did? He was true to His promise. He built just

one church. And we keep reading through the rest

in the New Testament about that church and you

read through the rest of the book of Acts and

you see how it grew into the far reaches of the

Roman Empire. One of the places it grew to be

was in the city of Ephesus in modern -day Turkey.

Paul wrote a letter, an epistle, to the church

at Ephesus, to the congregation there. And listen

to what Paul told him. He told the baptized believers,

the Christians in Ephesus, Ephesians 4 -4, he

said there is one body. One body. And we know

what the body is. Colossians 1 .18 says he is

the head of the body, the church. The church

is the body and the body is the church. It's

the body of Christ. And Paul told the Ephesians

there is one body. Paul didn't say there are

many different bodies. He said there is one body,

just like there is one spirit, even as we are

called in one hope of our calling. Just like

there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One

God and Father of all who is above all and through

all and in you to all. As sure as there's just

one God, one Father, one Lord faith baptism,

the New Testament teaches there's only one body

because Jesus only built one church. So in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, in Jerusalem on Pentecost day, We

understand that that is the day that is the time

that is the occasion upon which Jesus built his

church, but let's let's fast forward to today

It's good to understand these things of the past,

but we want to talk about what's going on today

Why are there so many different churches today?

When we read these verses about Jesus building

one church and the baptized believers were added

to one church and Paul said there's one body

It seems so plain, it seems so clear, but we

look around us today and we see the furthest

thing from one church, right? We look around

us today, we survey the religious landscape,

and we see that there are many, many, many different

churches around us, right? And this is evidenced

by the fact that a lot of these churches we see

around us, they wear different names. Many different

names, right? many different churches wearing

many different names. That's just a sample of

some of the names of churches that we commonly

see around us today. And not only do the churches

we see around us today wear different names,

they also teach different doctrines. They teach

different doctrines. They teach different things

about salvation. One church will tell you you

need to do this to be saved and you go to the

next church It says no you need to do this to

be saved and you go to the next church. It says

no No, here's what you need to do to be saved

you go to one church and they say This is what

you need to do to be able to take communion and

you go to the next church and they have a whole

different set of criteria one church says that

We shouldn't have women preachers in the church.

The other church says well, that's okay. That's

fine We've got a woman preacher and the list

goes on and on all the different practices, all

the different teachings. They preach different

Gospels. They preach different plans of salvation.

This is the sad but true reality of the religious

world that we see around us today. And it behooves

us to ask the question, how did we ever go from

that one church Jesus built in Jerusalem in 33

AD in Acts chapter 2. How did we ever go to this?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

How did that happen? Have you ever wondered that?

How did we go from here to what we see today?

Where did all this religious division come from?

That's the question I want to focus in on for

the next few minutes and I hope you listen very

carefully. As I talk about some of these things

and share some of these things with you, you

don't need to fear. It's easy to explain. The

last 2 ,000 years of religious division, we've

got these very clear, very simple flow charts

which explain how we went from the one church

Jesus built down through the ages and through

the divisions and here, there, and everywhere,

and we end up over here and come back down here.

I'm trying to be funny, but in all honesty, that's

really not funny, is it? That's a reality. These

are actual diagrams that people have created

to try to make sense of the complicated mess

that we have around us today in the form of all

this religious division. They've created these

to try to help make sense of it. It might take

a college degree to ever have a hope of making

sense of that. How did it ever come to be that

way? The truth of the matter is this, if we were

to be honest, if we were to be honest, if we

would look around we would have to admit that

we are drowning in a vast ocean of religious

confusion and division. That's the truth now

Some people with all due respect everybody's

got a different idea a different opinion and

some people have an idea or an opinion I talked

to an individual a few years ago had a really

good conversation with him He has a different

view or opinion than me his view and his opinion

is that it's actually good It's actually a good

thing that we have so many different churches

to choose from and here's his way of thinking

He said, you know, it's great when a town has

12 different churches because what that means

is you move into that town and you go visit all

12 churches and you find that church that fits

your own unique personality. You find that one

church that lines up with who you are as an individual,

that does the things you like, that appreciates

the things you appreciate. You go find that church

that fits you. And the more options you have

to choose from, right? It's kind of like going

to a fast food restaurant. We like options. The

more options you have to choose from, in his

mind, he says, well, that's just all the better.

Now, that is an idea. His articulation of that

idea is the articulation of an idea that is not

uncommon today in religion. And it's the idea

or the ideology of what we call denominationalism.

Denominationalism. That's probably going to be

the longest word I say tonight. Denominationalism.

It's kind of hard to say. What is denominationalism?

Denominationalism is the idea that we're going

to take the church that Jesus built and we're

going to divide it up into all these different

groups and then name each religious group. Divide

and name. And that's what we've done in Christianity

over the last 2 ,000 years. We've taken the one

church Jesus built and we've divided it up into

hundreds and thousands of different groups and

given them all their respective names. And the

names are important because they set that group

apart from all the other groups to divide in

name. It's the idea that Jesus, yes, did build

one big church and this one big church Jesus

built is made up of all these many different

denominations. That's the idea, the ideology

of denominationalism. I'm here to tell you folks,

listen, with all due respect to people who hold

to this ideology, brothers and sisters, friends,

I believe that this is one of the biggest religious

lies that may have been told in our time. This

idea that it's a good thing that we have so much

religious division. It's a good thing we have

20 different churches teaching 20 different doctrines

that just confuses people. discourages people

and frustrates people who are actually seeking

to find the truth and find the church Jesus built.

The idea that that is somehow a good thing. That

is a religious lie and it's terrible. It's a

terrible lie. I want to show you that from the

scriptures tonight. You know, one of the verses

that people commonly go to when they're advancing

the idea of denominationalism is 1 Corinthians

12 12. So let's go look at... let's be good students

of the Bible. Let's honestly and earnestly consider

what the Bible says. Let's look at 1 Corinthians

12 12 and let's see if it teaches this idea of

denominationalism. 1 Corinthians 12 12. Paul

said, For as the body is one and hath many members...

and all the members of that one body being many

are one body, he says, so also is Christ. Now

the interpretation of this verse is that, see,

the Bible teaches there is one body, Jesus built

one church, and that one body, one church is

made up of many different denominations. Now,

to start with, that's not what the verse says,

is it? That's not what the verse says. Does the

Bible say that there's one body made up of many

different denominations? It says there's one

body made up of many different members, but we've

got to be able to correctly identify and interpret

who the members are and we'll do that momentarily.

So number one, this scripture does not teach

there's one body made up of many different denominations.

It doesn't say that and it doesn't teach that.

Denominationalism is not the will of God. And

here's why we know that. When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians

12 .12, when he wrote there's one body made up

of many different members, when he wrote that

to the church of Corinth, do you know how many

denominations existed at that time? Zero. There's

no way Paul was writing about one body made up

of many different denominations because no denominations

existed at the time. In fact, most denominations

would not exist for another 1 ,500 years. So

we know for a fact he wasn't saying that the

members there in that passage are denominations.

In 1 Corinthians 4 17, we find that what Paul

taught in one church, he taught in every church.

That's something that denominationalism really

won't allow for. We live in a divided religious

world. I'm not so sure I could go to every church

in McMinnville and teach the same message. I

could try, but I'm not sure that message would

be accepted in every church. But in the first

century, Paul taught the same thing in every

church, and the churches accepted his teaching.

1 Corinthians 4 .17, Paul said, For this cause

I've sent unto you Timotheus, that's Timothy,

who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways

which be in Christ, as I teach, Paul says, everywhere

in every church. Paul taught the same thing everywhere

in every church. But we don't see churches today

teaching the same thing. We don't see them teaching

the same doctrines. We don't see them preaching

the same gospel. Paul commanded the same things

in every church in 1 Corinthians 7, 17. He says,

but as God has distributed to every man, as the

Lord hath called every one, so let him walk.

Paul says, as I ordain or as I command in all

churches. Paul didn't have one ordinance for

this church at Corinth and then a different ordinance

for the church at Philippi and then a completely

different contradictory command for the church

at Ephesus. He didn't ordain and command different

things in different churches. He ordained and

commanded the same things in all the churches.

Paul gave the same orders, the same instruction

to all the churches concerning the collection

on the first day of the week. Now concerning

the collection for the saints, as I've given

order to the churches of Galatia, Paul says,

even so do ye. 1 Corinthians 16 verse 1. Paul

1 Corinthians 16:1

says, I'm going to tell you all what you need

to do concerning this collection for the needy

saints. And by the way, I'm just telling you

to do the same thing I told the churches in Galatia

to do. He taught the same thing. He gave the

same orders, the same commands in all the churches.

Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 12 .12. The claim

was that there is one body, one church made up

of many different members, which are denominations.

The members here are not denominations. If the

members are not denominations, who are the many

members in 1 Corinthians 12 .12? It's not denominational

churches. It's individual Christians. You gotta

remember, Paul wrote this letter. It was an epistle.

It was to a church at Corinth. That church was

made up of what? Christians. Baptized believers

in Christ. Later on in the chapter, if you read

down just a few verses, look at what Paul tells

them. He says, now ye, who's ye? The Corinthians

that he wrote to. Baptized believers in Christ.

He said, now ye are the body of Christ. You're

the church. And look, and members in particular.

All we've got to do is be good students of the

Bible. Read down a little further and the Bible

will tell us who the members are. And it's not

telling us that they're denominational churches.

It's telling us that the members were individual

Christians. Paul wrote to Christians in 1 Corinthians

1 -2. The epistle was, Under the church of God

which is at Corinth, to them, those people who

were sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be

saints. It was saved people. Christians, baptized

believers that he wrote to and those are the

members of that one body in 1st Corinthians 12

12. Denominationalism is not the will of God

and here's why we know it because Jesus prayed

for unity of all believers. Jesus prayed for

unity of all believers. I'm scared to think what

Jesus thinks and feels about the religious division

he sees in the world today. I'm scared to think

about how he views it because I know he prayed

a very intense and sincere prayer in John 17

John 17:20–21

verse 20 to 21 where Jesus prayed to the Father.

He poured out his heart and his soul to the Father.

He said, neither pray I for these alone. He just

prayed for his apostles. He says, but I'm praying

for them also which shall believe on me through

their word. He's praying for us. He's praying

for every Christian who would follow. in the

footsteps of the apostles. Those the apostles

would reach with the gospel. And even the apostles'

message has reached us even today through the

written record and testimony of the New Testament.

We've come to believe in Christ through their

testimony. So if that's true, then Jesus is praying

for us. And what does He pray for? He says that

they all may be divided into 26 different denominations.

That's not what Jesus prayed for. Jesus said

that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art

in me and I and thee, that they also may be one

in us, that the world may believe that thou hast

sent me. Jesus prays for all believers to be

one. And that's how we know that this idea of

dividing believers up into all these different

churches doing different things is not the will

of God. It's not what Jesus prayed for. We know

denominationalism is not the will of God because

Paul very clearly in his writings condemned religious

division Corinth had a problem with the religious

division had a lot of problems Very first problem

Paul addresses was religious division, which

I don't know that kind of tells me maybe that

was the most important problem most serious problem

1st Corinthians 1 11 it hath been declared unto

me of you my brethren by them that are of the

house of Chloe that there are contentions means

divisions among you now this I say Paul says

that every one of you saying I'm of Paul another

person says I'm of Apollo's another says I'm

of Cephas another says I'm of Christ is Christ

divided he shouldn't be it's a rhetorical question

he shouldn't be But they were dividing Christ

With these attitudes, these mentalities of I

follow Paul, I follow Cephas, I follow Apollos.

They were dividing Christ. Is Christ divided?

He shouldn't be. Was Paul crucified for you?

No. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? Well,

why are you saying I'm of Paul? It was Christ

who died for you. You were baptized in the name

of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are you saying

I'm of Paul? He's trying to help them see they

all need to rally around Christ the one who died

for them and not allow themselves to be divided

up Following different men, but but that's part

of what we see around us in the religious world

today We see many different churches divided

against each other following the ideas the island

ideologies the traditions of men Denominationalism

is not the will of God because the Bible tells

us as God's people we should all speak the same

things Paul told these Corinthians in the process

of correcting that division that they had that

that division that we just we just read about

Paul said now I beseech you that word beseech

means to beg he's he's begging him He's begging

them He says I beseech you brethren that you

all speak the same thing That there be no divisions

among you, but that you be perfectly joined together

in the same mind and in the same judgment. God

calls us to unite in one body, not to divide

the body up into many different man -made denominations.

There's just no way around it. The teaching of

Scripture is very clear. It's very simple. This

is easy for us to understand that denominationalism

is not the will of God. Yes, this is what we

see around us today. But this was never God's

plan for the church. Okay, given the fact that

this is... These are the cards we've been dealt.

This is what we have to deal with today. How

do we go about finding the church that Jesus

built amidst this ocean of religious confusion

and division that the world is drowning in? How

do we find the church Jesus built? If you were

here yesterday, I used an illustration. of restoring

the game of baseball we were talking about restoration

returning things to their former original condition

and I gave the illustration of restoring the

game of baseball suppose I come from a foreign

country to visit the United States and I don't

know anything about baseball but I hear my American

friends talking about baseball they all love

baseball and and I want to learn about baseball

and I want to watch people play baseball How

would I go about finding the game of baseball

in this country today without any prior knowledge

of it? Well, the first thing I'd do, you remember

this from yesterday, the rule book, rule book

of Major League Baseball? First thing I would

need to do is get the rule book of Major League

Baseball and I'd need to open it and read it

and study it and learn a few things about the

game of baseball. And with that information,

with the rule book, I could start walking into

sports stadiums And I could start watching the

games that those athletes would play on the field.

And I might walk into a stadium and see the men

out on the field tackling one another, and they're

throwing this brown oval -shaped ball, and it

looks like the goal is to tackle the guy with

the ball before he gets into the end zone. I

don't read that in the rule book. That's not

in the baseball rule book. That must be another

sport, right? That's American football. So I

gotta keep looking. I'm gonna go to the next

sports stadium and I'm gonna look down there

and I'm gonna see two guys with rackets hitting

a little green ball back and forth, back and

forth, back and forth. Well I've read the rule

book and that ain't nothing like what the rule

book says baseball ought to be. So I hadn't found

baseball. I found something different. So I go

in the next sports stadium and there's a bunch

of guys running around wearing themselves plum

out. kicking this black and white ball back and

forth back and forth back and forth back and

forth and Nobody gets real excited until they

kick it in that net and then everybody goes crazy

Well, that's all fine and fun, but you know what

that's that's not baseball I Don't read of anything

like that in the baseball rule book. That's not

baseball. I hadn't found it yet have I But you

know what I could go into the next sports stadium

and I couldn't look out on the field and I can

see they've got A diamond -shaped pattern on

the field. And I can see they put nine players

on the field. And then the pitcher pitches the

ball. And it's three strikes is an out. Hey,

the rule book says it's three strikes is an out.

And then it's four balls in a walk. I can see

that. And hey, that's what the rule book says.

And it looks like they're gonna play nine innings.

And it's six outs per inning. Three at the top

of the inning, three at the bottom of the inning.

Hey. This looks a lot like what the rule book

says baseball ought to be I found the game of

baseball Just by letting the rule book Be my

guide and comparing what I'm seeing out there

on the field to what the rule book says It wouldn't

be hard to find the game of baseball. We could

do it. You could do it Brothers and sisters friends

if it wouldn't be hard for us to find the game

of baseball It shouldn't be hard for us to find

the church of Jesus built because we got a rule

book. Don't we? We've got a pattern. We've got

a blueprint. We've got the New Testament. It's

our guide. It's our plan. It's our pattern which

will help us understand and see clearly what

the church Jesus built was all about. It's like

a blueprint. You know, you can take a blueprint

and as long as you take that blueprint and follow

it carefully, you could go anywhere in the world

and you could build the same house over and over

and over again. I could build a house in McMinnville,

Tennessee, take the blueprint. over to the Middle

East and build that same house. I could go to

Africa and build that same house. I could build

that house anywhere in the world just by following

the pattern or the blueprint that is provided

to me. And the New Testament is like that blueprint.

We can take the New Testament and the pattern

of the church it gives us and we can replicate

the Lord's church. We can be the Lord's church

today. We can find the Lord's church today. We

can be the church that Jesus Christ built, the

Church of Christ. today, two thousand years after

he built it. I know that was a long time ago.

But you know, I mean the blueprint, as long as

the blueprint's still good, right? A thousand

years can go by, two thousand years, five, ten

thousand years could go by. And as long as you

have access to the blueprint, you still have

what you need to find the church Jesus built.

So we can find and we can be the church of Christ

today. Let me give you some specific examples

of what I'm talking about. The New Testament

provides information about the name of the church.

There's a name given to the church in Scripture,

okay? And we can go to the pattern, the New Testament,

and we can find that name given. And if we want

to find the church that Jesus built today, we

will go look for a church that wears that same

name, that wears a scriptural name. If we want

to be a scriptural church, it just makes sense

that we would wear a scriptural name. In Romans

16, 16, Paul said, salute one another with a

holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

He calls the churches, he refers to the churches

as the churches of Christ. That's a scriptural

name for the church and that's the name we wear

here at North Warren. I like that name. That's

a good name. It's a scriptural name and it shows

who the church belongs to. It shows the ownership

that Jesus has, the possession of His church.

And if we want to be a scriptural church, like

I said, we will wear a scriptural name. You know,

the members of the churches of Christ in the

first century, the disciples, they were simply

called Christians. Christians. I tell people

today, I told somebody today, we were out knocking

doors. I told them we're just Christians. And

the typical response I get when I tell someone

I'm just a Christian, they say, oh yeah, I know

you're a Christian, but what kind of Christian

are you? Right? What flavor are you? There's

all the different flavors of Christians. With

all due respect, there's Baptist Christians,

Methodist Christians, Episcopalian Christians,

Adventist Christians, Mormon Christians. There's

all these different flavors of Christian. It

seems like nobody is just a Christian these days,

but that's what I want to be. I want to be just

a Christian because that's what these disciples

were in Antioch in Acts 11 26. It says the disciples

were called Christians first in Antioch. Were

they Baptist Christians? No. No. Were they Lutheran

Christians? They were not. Were they Mennonite

Christians? No. You know, Baptist Church, Lutheran

Church, Mennonite Church wouldn't exist for another

1 ,500 years. They were just Christians. They

were just part of that one church that Jesus

built. That's the same church we're trying to

be today. The New Testament pattern also teaches

us things pertaining to membership in Christ's

church. How do you become a member of the church

Jesus built? If we want to be the church Jesus

built today, we will go to the pattern, the New

Testament. And we will try to put into practice

the same terms of membership. If we want to find

the church Jesus built in the religious world

today, we will look for a church that is putting

into practice the same terms of membership. And

there's something that's very, very important.

It's important that we be baptized in water for

the remission of our sins. And that's one of

the ways that we gain access or entrance into

the church Jesus built. The Bible teaches in

1 Corinthians 12 -13, for by one spirit we're

all baptized into one body. When we hear the

gospel believe it Repent of our sin confess faith

in Christ and when we're baptized the Bible says

we're baptized into We come into the body of

Christ the church that he built. So, you know

baptism is an important part of Membership in

the church that Jesus built we want to find that

church today We'll look for a church that teaches

you need to be baptized to become a member of

Christ Church That's very important the New Testament

gives us details about the organization of the

church. How does the Lord want the church organized?

How does it want it governed? We're only going

to mention this briefly for a moment. If you

want to hear more about that, come back Friday

night. We're going to talk more in depth about

restoring God's plan for the organization of

the church. But if we want to find the church

Jesus built today, we'll find that church that

is putting into practice that same pattern for

church organization. Ephesians 4, 11 to 12 gives

us some insight into the organization of the

church where He, Christ, gave some apostles,

some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors

and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,

for the work of the ministry, for the edifying

of the body of Christ. This is one passage that

reveals certain offices. And think of these offices

as roles and responsibilities given to different

individuals in the church to serve the church.

to equip it so that it can be edified and built

up. Evangelists preaching, pastors or elders

shepherding, deacons which this verse doesn't

mention but other passages in the New Testament

do, deacons serving, teachers teaching. God has

a plan for the organization of the church and

its different offices and this verse gives us

some of the details about that plan. If we want

to find the church Jesus built, we'll find a

church that is ordaining people into these offices

and people that are fulfilling these roles and

responsibilities according to the Scriptures.

What about doctrine? New Testament provides a

pattern for the doctrine that they taught in

the church Jesus built. To find the church Jesus

built today, we'll be looking for the church

that teaches that same doctrine. And doctrine

is important. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy

4 to preach the Word. Be instant in season, out

of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering

and doctrine. For the time will come when they

will not endure sound doctrine, but after their

own lust shall they heed to themselves, teachers

having itching ears. Jesus built His church on

sound scriptural doctrine. So if we're going

to find that church today, we're definitely going

to have to pay close attention to a church's

doctrine and make sure that what they're teaching

is straight from the Word of God without any

additions or subtractions or without man substituting

his ideas or opinions for the Word of the Lord.

What about worship? New Testament has a pattern

or plan for how we worship in Christchurch. We're

going to talk more about that as we go on through

the meeting, but if we're going to find Christ's

church today, we will find the church that's

worshipping according to the New Testament pattern.

Jesus calls us to worship in spirit and in truth.

That's what he says in John 4, 23 to 24. The

hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshiper

shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God

is the Spirit, and they that worship Him must

worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is seeking

the Bible says true worshipers and the true worshipers

according to Jesus are those who worship in spirit

and in truth So I hope I've been able to help

you clearly see That though we're almost 2 ,000

years removed from the time when Jesus built

his church We still have a pattern or a plan

for that church in our New Testament and we can

take that pattern and plan today and use it to

look in the religious world around us and find

that one church that Jesus built. We can take

that same pattern and plan and do our level best

to put it into practice. Despite our weaknesses

and imperfections, we can take that same pattern,

put it into practice, and we can be the church,

the very same church that Jesus built. As I start

to wrap it up, I want you to understand some

things. You know, there are some things in the

New Testament that are some things that are not

mentioned or given to us in the New Testament

concerning our faith, our doctrine, our practice.

For example, you know, the Bible tells us we

need to assemble on the first day of the week,

but the Bible doesn't tell us what time to assemble.

New Testament doesn't give any direction about...

the time of the assembly. And if there's no New

Testament scripture that tells us we meet at

a certain time, that means we're at liberty to

choose. In that regard, in the church today,

we can meet at 2 .30, 10 .30, 8 o 'clock. We're

at liberty to choose. You know, here's something

else we're not going to get wound up about or

upset about, whether or not we sit in pews or

chairs. You know, there's no scripture that says

thou shalt sit in church pews. Church pews are

nice. I like church pews. But, you know, we could

also sit in chairs. That might sound crazy to

some people. Oh, we could never sit in chairs.

We've sat in church pews our whole life. My daddy

sat in church pews. My grandpa sat in church

pews. Now, I'm going to sit in a church pew and

we, you know, sometimes people get, they get

hung up on things like pews and chairs, but we

shouldn't get hung up on that because the New

Testament doesn't tell us what to sit in. Let

me really rock your world. You know in some countries

they sit on the floor when they come to church?

They sit on the floor. There ain't nothing wrong

with that. We're in liberty to choose what we

sit in. Last thing we want to do is try to make

a law that we have to sit in church pews. That'd

be silly. That's legalism. We don't want to be

guilty of that. How many songs are we going to

sing in our assembly? You know Daniel called

an audible tonight and added an extra song. That's

all right. We're at liberty to choose that. The

Bible doesn't say thou shalt sing four, five,

or six songs. And where the Bible doesn't specify,

where the Bible doesn't give us pattern guidance,

we don't need to try to make a law and say it

has to be five songs or else you're not a Christian

or else you're not going to heaven. We need to

be good students of the Word. We need to look

to the pattern and in areas where God speaks,

Where he gives us pattern, we need to put it

into practice. In areas where he allows for our

own opinion or judgment, we need to allow for

that without being divisive. Did some research

the last few months about what modern -day Americans

prioritize when they're looking for a church

home. Read several different articles, several

different studies. Here's what I found. I want

to share those findings with you tonight. This

just gives us a glimpse, another glimpse into

the religious world around us today. These are

the top five things modern -day Americans prioritize

when looking for a church home. First thing is

a preacher that checks all the boxes. He's got

to be young. He's got to be the right build,

right? He's got to have a nice family. He's got

to be very energetic, very outgoing. He's got

to be a great public speaker. He's got to really

connect with people, very personable. When people

are looking for a church, the preacher is under

the spotlight. He's got to check all the boxes.

People also want a church that has an exciting

worship experience, okay? And the more exciting

the better to people. Lights, smoke, the band,

the loud music. That really appeals to people

today. They like that and they want an exciting

worship experience. People also today value the

modern comforts that churches offer them and

especially really new modern facilities. People

really like it. People really like the way the

church looks and how its landscape and you know

the higher the steeple the better. A lot of people

look for that and it's important to them when

they're looking for a church home. Number four.

People want the church that they've attend to

be in a very convenient location, right? Just

down the street. That'd be perfect, right? Within

walking distance. Some of y 'all can walk to

church. You're very fortunate, right? So a lot

of people, that's one of the most important things

they're looking for, the location. And then number

five, to round it out. This is really important

to people. People want safe and fun programs

for the kids. We knock on doors like I said,

we talk to people, we tell them about the church.

The top two things we usually hear from people

is, okay, who's your preacher? Tell me about

your preacher. That's number one. And then number

two, what do you have for my kids? That's number

five. These are the things that people value

and prioritize when they're looking for a place

to go to church. Now, we need to have good preachers

and teachers in the church. And I think this

congregation is striving to do that. We should

strive to have a good standard of solid Bible

-based teaching and preaching in the church.

That's good. An exciting worship experience.

I don't know about you. I get excited when we

come here and sing together. Singing tonight

was great. I get excited. I look forward to it

when we praise God together. It's exciting enough

for me. No lights, no smoke, no big band, but

I'm not concerned about that. Modern comforts

and facilities. We've got modest places to meet,

to worship and assemble. I tell you what, our

facilities are ten times better than a lot of

places I've been in Central America where they

meet for worship. Convenient location, there's

not a lot I can do to help you with that. Either

you're close or you're not. I drive like 25 miles

back home to get to where I go to church at the

New Harmony Church of Christ. I told you last

night I passed seven or eight other churches

to get there. You know why I do that? I could

stop at any one of those seven or eight churches

to worship before I got to New Harmony Church

of Christ. But you know why I go all the way

to New Harmony Church of Christ? Because in my

estimation of all the churches in my area, that

congregation is the one that is following the

New Testament pattern as closely as any other

group that I've discovered. That's important

to me. that I find a congregation even if I have

to drive a long way that's following the New

Testament pattern and trying to be the church

Jesus built. Safe and fun programs for the church,

we got that. There ain't nothing safer and better

for our kids than to them to be sitting here

by mom, by dad, by grandma and grandpa and listening

and learning and singing and taking notes and

learning how to pray. There ain't nothing safer

as far as what we have to offer kids than what

we do right here. All of us being together, worshiping

God as a family. That's a wonderful thing. It's

a beautiful thing. Now a lot of churches today

have moved on to what they think are bigger and

better things for kids. I'm here to tell you

the old paths are better. Walk in the old paths

and we'll be blessed. A lot of people prioritize

a lot of things when they're looking for a church

home. This really needs to be the most important

thing to you and to me and to everybody. The

most important thing should be finding a church

that's striving to be the church Jesus built

and everything else should be secondary to that.

This should be at the top of our list of priorities

that I won't be satisfied until I find a church

that looks just like the one I read about in

the New Testament. That ought to matter to us

more than anything else. our top priority. Find

a church that's following the pattern, the blueprint

provided for us in the New Testament. This is

the sad but inconvenient truth. There's far too

much man -made religion in the world today. And

case in point is the easy -to -understand flow

charts, right? There is far too much man -made

religious division and confusion in the world

today. And listen, with all due respect to people

who consider themselves members of all these

different denominations, I'm here to tell you

tonight, there is no salvation in man -made religion.

I know that's not the politically correct thing

to say. But I believe it's the truth. There is

no salvation in man -made religion. There is

salvation in Christ. There is salvation in Him.

There is salvation, I believe, in the church

that He built. I want to be a part of that church.

You can be a part of that church. Jesus condemned

man -made religion. He told the Pharisees in

Matthew 15 -6, He says, you've made the commandment

of God of none effect by your tradition. In verse

9 he says, in vain you worship me because you

teach for doctrines the commandments of men.

Jesus outright condemned the man -made religion

of the Pharisees. He had very straight and pointed

words for them, didn't he? He told them right

to their face, your worship is in vain. You make

the Word of God of none effect because you hold

to all these man -made traditions. That must

have hurt, you know? I think it did hurt because

later on in the chapter, you know what the Bible

tells us, Matthew 15 verse 12, then came his

Matthew 15:12

disciples unto him and they said, knowest thou

that the Pharisees were offended after they heard

this saying? Don't you know you offended them

when you told them that their worship was in

vain? That it was empty, it was meaningless,

it was pointless, what they were, their whole

faith, their whole religion was meaningless.

You offended them, Jesus. Verse 13, but he answered

listen to what Jesus said every plant which my

heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted

up Let them alone They be blind leaders of the

blind and if the blind lead the blind what will

happen? We know both fall into the ditch Jesus

said leave them alone every plant which my heavenly

father hasn't planted will be rooted up He says

they're blind, leaders of the blind. If the blind

lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch.

That's true. What's that mean to you? What's

that mean to me? Here's what it should mean.

We got to make sure we aren't uprooted. Every

plant which the Father hadn't planted will be

uprooted. We got to make sure we're not uprooted.

We got to make sure we don't fall into the ditch.

We can't just blindly follow some church or some

preacher because they might be blind. And they

might not be walking in the path of truth. And

if we just blindly follow them, we're going to

follow them right down into the ditch. You can't

let that happen to you. You can't let that happen

to your family. We can't let that happen to each

other. Does finding the church that Jesus built

matter to you? It's the question I'll leave you

with tonight. Does finding the church that Jesus

built matter to you. I hope and I pray that some

of the things I've said tonight, some of the

scriptures that we've read would motivate you,

would encourage you, would inspire you to do

your own diligent search to make sure, make sure

that you find and you are a part and you are

a member of that one church that Jesus built.

God put us here. He give us time and opportunity

to be about this quest this search For the church

Jesus built and I hope and pray you'll take advantage

of that opportunity Let's encourage all those

around us to take advantage of that opportunity

to define and to be a part Of the church of Christ

the church that Jesus built. Thank you for your

attention tonight I really appreciate you being

here and listening to me and giving me your undivided

attention I'm very passionate about these things.

That's why I get excited. That's why I raise

my voice. I want you to know something is for

no other reason other than I care about these

things. I care about you. I want to make sure

people understand and get this information so

they can make good, wise, and informed decisions

about how they're going to serve God. And I hope

you, I hope we all will make good, wise, informed

decisions from the Word of God of how we serve

Him.