Building A Living Model

Alright, this morning I want to talk to you about building a living model.

! Building a living model.

This last Friday, May 1st, was our two-year anniversary of our church, for those who don't know.

And as we look forward to the years ahead, I want to talk to you about this concept of a living model.

Before I do that, I want to just briefly tell a little story here about the four-minute mile,

by way of introduction.

Some of you guys know this, but for years, so many athletes had tried and failed to run a mile in less than four minutes.

And actually, even doctors and such made it out to be a physical impossibility.

Are you familiar with this at all?

They literally said, this can't be done.

You cannot run less than a four-minute mile.

On May 6, 1954, in Oxford, England, Roger Bannister became the first person to do it.

Finishing in three minutes, 59.4 seconds.

He did it, right? I thought it couldn't be done.

Two months later, John Landy ran a mile in under four minutes in a race he lost to Bannister.

Steve Scott has run 136 sub-four-minute miles in his lifetime.

In 1997, Daniel Komen of Kenya ran two miles in less than eight minutes.

Doubling up on Bannister's accomplishment, the current record is held by Hikam El-Garaj,

who ran a time of three minutes, or three, yes, three minutes, 43.13 seconds.

Okay, in 1999.

According to World Athletic Statistics, the four-minute barrier has been broken by just over 2,000 athletes.

Okay?

So, for so long, a four-minute mile was never accomplished, and then in the 70 years after,

the record's blown to smithereens.

What happened?

What happened?

This quick glance at history would lead you to believe that it was impossible to run a four-minute mile

prior to May 6, 1954, but after May 6, 1954, it somehow became possible.

But we know that's not true, right?

It wasn't some miracle that happened on May 6, 1954, where all of a sudden, the impossible became possible,

some kind of magic that he performed.

It wasn't impossible before May 6, 1954.

It was just invisible.

It was just invisible.

No one had seen it done before.

The impossible is made possible when the invisible is made visible.

Okay?

On May 6, 1954, the impossible was made visible by one, making it possible for many.

This is true for so much more than running.

And today, I want to look at how it's true with the church.

Okay?

I've heard so many people say they've never seen certain things in a local church.

You ever had these conversations?

I remember a very discouraging conversation I had with my family on a trip up to Wisconsin years ago.

And they all started saying all these things that they've never seen in a church.

And then went on to say that they never would.

And I'm thinking, wait a minute.

Hold up.

Says who?

Well, it says all of them.

And they were pretty convinced of it.

And I'm telling them, I'm like, no.

I've seen it.

What you're saying is impossible.

I've seen it.

So they're all connecting around their unbelief.

And I'm like, no, no, no.

Hey, I've seen what you say is impossible.

But the reason, none of them believe me.

They kind of just kind of pushed me off.

And I was like, good grief.

But I get it.

It's because they've never seen it.

And the reason I have faith for it is because I have seen it.

And it takes people to see something.

And it takes people also to see it before it's seen.

One of my favorite quotes, actually, is regarding Walt Disney.

Walt Disney had this vision to build the Disney theme park in Orlando, right?

But he died before it was finished.

And there's a famous interaction between a reporter and Walt's brother.

I think it was Roy.

And they're standing in some place where they could oversee the whole park.

And the reporter says to Roy, wow, if only Walt could have seen this.

And Roy looks at him and says, if Walt didn't see this, it would have never existed.

And again, this speaks of this seeing of something.

Once you see it, now someone's got to see it.

Bannister, with the four-minute mile, he believed it could happen even before it happened.

But once he put it on display, over 2,000 other people now believe it's possible and have done it.

And there's a lot of things in the Bible.

There's a lot of things about the church that people don't believe.

And one of the reasons they don't believe it is they've never seen it.

And this is one of the great privileges of the local church.

Not just that we could be a part of all the good things, like Samir has said.

Things like adoption.

Things like all the good things we have in Christ Jesus.

But we can actually put on display invisible things.

Things not visible to some people.

We can experience them and make them visible.

Make the invisible visible.

So that the invisible becomes valuable.

And so that the invisible, in the eyes of many, becomes possible.

Do you believe this?

I believe it.

I've seen it happen.

And I would love to see it happen in churches all over.

I have a firm and strong belief that church can be done the way God wants it to be done.

Why?

Because it's his church.

Because he says, I will build my church.

And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

His church is invincible when it comes to hell.

Now, if we build our own church and build our own way,

yeah, I got no hope that that's going to last.

I got no hope in man's movements.

I got no hope that our version of church is going to overcome the gates of hell.

But I believe that his church will.

And if we build what he is building, that we will see that.

And other people can see and have hope.

So the question is, how do we make the invisible visible

so that people believe that the invisible is possible?

I want to look at very simple, just three things this morning.

Okay.

First one is, you have to care.

Okay.

You have to care specifically about the church.

You have to have conviction.

Okay.

You'll never endure discomfort for something you don't have conviction about.

Right.

You'll never endure discomfort.

And there is discomfort that is required to put on display the things that God wants to show forth in his church.

But you'll never endure that discomfort if you don't first have conviction about what the church is supposed to be.

For Christians, the best way to appropriate, to appropriately care about something is to know how much Christ cares for it.

You follow me on that?

The best way to have the appropriate care for something is know how much does Christ care about it.

You know, Philippians 2.21 has this indictment that is spoken.

It says,

They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ has things he's interested in.

One of those things that he's interested in is the church being a certain way.

There are specific things in the Bible that are referred to when talking about the church.

It's not one thing.

It's not two things.

It's not five things.

It's not ten things.

I count at least 15 different things that the Bible says the church is.

And for us to be convictional about what those things are and to say,

Hey, it's not okay if these things aren't expressed through the local church.

And I want to do everything I can to see that expressed.

Because I care about the interests of Christ.

If Christ is interested in these things, I'm interested in these things.

Acts 20.28, when Paul was speaking to the Ephesian elders in Miletus,

He said,

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 obtained with his own blood.

That last phrase there is important.

If we want to care rightly, correctly, for the church of God,

one of the keys is just remembering,

and this is part of the reason we take of the Lord's Table every week,

is remembering what was the cost of the church.

Care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

When we see what it cost to receive the church,

we start to value.

We start to value it.

If the cost of the church was the blood of Christ,

it is a very valuable thing.

Because we know the value of anything is what you pay for it.

Someone says,

Hey man, my house is worth this.

And you walk through it and you're just like,

You get ripped off, man.

This is not worth this.

No one else is going to pay this much for this.

But if you look at the church, you'd say,

What is the worth of the church?

Why is the church worthy of our time?

Why is the church worthy of our effort?

Why is there worth in our putting in effort and sacrifice

to see the church become what God says it's supposed to be?

Why?

Well, let's look at what was paid for it.

The price of the church was the blood of Jesus.

The sacrifice of the Son, the sinless Savior.

When I look at it that way, I say,

Oh my gosh, this is of great worth.

Ephesians 5.25 says,

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The price of the church was Christ.

The price of the church was Christ crucified.

It's very valuable.

What is of higher value than that?

It truly is a pearl of great price.

To say, well, Jesus thought the church was so valuable,

he gave himself for her.

And anyone who says that they love Jesus

should walk as Jesus did.

1 John says this.

And so, number one,

in order to put these things on display,

we've got to start with just caring.

And I want to ask you, do you care?

Do you care?

And how much do you care?

At the end of the day,

I've had times in my life where I've been convicted,

like, I don't care enough about what Jesus cares about.

I don't care enough about what Jesus cared so much for

that he gave his all for it.

He paid for it with his very life.

I want to care consistently

with what the scriptures say is of great worth.

And I would say there are,

what would be of greater worth

than that which Jesus gave himself for?

So let me ask you the question,

do you care about the church?

Do you care appropriately?

Is it just kind of a,

well, you know, I get it.

I'm a Christian.

I should attend a church somewhere on a Sunday morning.

Please.

I'm looking around here.

I know that the people in this room

know better than that, right?

You've been around enough to know

that that's not what Christ has for us.

Christ didn't die so that we could attend

Sunday morning services.

It's like, praise God, Jesus died

so we have someplace to go on a Sunday morning.

Jesus died so that I could fight with my spouse

and argue with my kids and getting them dressed

on a Sunday morning.

Praise God.

That was such a great thing that he did.

That's not what he, that's not why he did it.

It was so much more than that.

I'm not saying that that's the soul.

Some of that, you understand.

But it's so much more than that.

It's life together.

It's a group of people.

It's a people for his own possession, right?

He died to purchase a people

and that people would be his church.

That people would be his bride.

That people would be a family.

That people would be light and salt.

That people would be an army of soldiers.

That people would be the people of God

who are possessed by God, okay?

So that's the first thing we gotta care.

Number two, we gotta care about the right things.

We gotta care about the right things.

Okay?

So we got three sub-points within the second point.

Three things I think we need to care about

when we're thinking about the church.

Number one, there are three things

that the church is to make known.

Number one, and this is of utmost importance,

is we have to care about the wisdom of God

being made known.

This comes from a very important verse in the Bible

in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 8 through 11.

Ephesians 3:8–11

Listen as I read this scripture.

To me though, this is Paul,

I am the very least of all the saints.

This grace was given to preach to the Gentiles

the unsearchable riches of Christ

and to bring to light for everyone

what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God.

Okay?

Already you got my attention.

You're gonna bring to light the plan of the mystery.

This is something that people have been longing to know.

The Bible says even angels longed to look into this.

This is what the prophets could see partially

but they didn't see it fully.

This is what people have been longing to know

all the way up until this point.

This plan of God that was a mystery

hidden for ages in God.

Then it says,

who created all things so that...

Whoa, time out again.

Again, he's about to tell us

why he created all things.

Does he have your attention?

He's got my attention.

Anytime God's about to say,

hey, I'm not just...

I want to tell you why he created all things.

Okay?

I'm listening.

That's a big deal.

Why you created all things.

So he says,

So the reason is what?

So that through the church,

the manifold wisdom of God

may now be made known

to the rulers and authorities

in the heavenly places.

So God had this plan

hidden throughout the ages

that the rulers and authorities

in heavenly realms

would know the wisdom of God

through a particular entity

called the church.

And this was why

all things were created.

Oh, come on, Josh.

I just read it, right?

That's what it says.

All things that were created

so that a particular entity

called the church,

through that entity,

rulers and authorities

in heavenly places

would know the wisdom of God.

This was according to

the eternal purpose

that he has realized

in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We're talking eternal purpose.

We're talking the reason

earth was created.

We're talking the mystery

that has been hidden

in ages in God.

This is big deal stuff right here.

Okay?

Paul's unpacking quite a bit.

And these, I mean,

you could preach on this

for a long time.

This is big deal stuff.

But it tells us,

hey, number one,

there's a wisdom

that God wants to make known,

which number one,

what is the wisdom of God?

The wisdom of God is what?

Christ crucified.

We see this in 1 Corinthians, right?

God wants to display

to not humans.

So the eternal purpose

is the ultimate test

of whether or not

we are just consumers

in it for our own good

because the eternal purpose

has nothing to do with us.

Do you hear that?

He created the earth

so that the church could exist

to display the wisdom of God

to us?

No.

To rulers and authorities

in heavenly realms.

Is that offensive to you?

Hopefully it offends your pride.

It was meant to.

God is fully committed

to offending your pride,

by the way.

He didn't create this

to be displayed for us.

We are supposed to,

as the church,

display wisdom.

How do we do that?

Through a crucified life.

Through a life that is laid down

for Jesus and for one another.

The cross should be displayed

through an entity called the church

so that rulers and authorities

in heavenly places

would know the wisdom of God.

This is a phenomenal thing.

This is an awesome thing.

Do you have a value

for the wisdom of God

being made known

to entities far above us?

Rulers and authorities

in heavenly realms.

That's one of the reasons

why the church exists.

This is the eternal purpose.

This is the reason

that all things were created,

that through the church.

Do you believe in that phrase,

through the church?

This is why we make such a big deal

about the local church.

Because the whole earth

was created so that

that entity could display something.

So it's a big deal.

It's a big deal.

So that's the first thing.

We have to care about

the wisdom of God

being made known.

Number two,

we should care about

the character of God

being made known.

In other words,

what is God like?

Well, how do we know

what God is like?

Well, Jesus incarnated God.

He is God.

And then incarnated

who God was

into an actual human.

Right?

So that we could see

what God was like.

He says,

if you've seen me,

you've seen the Father.

It says that Jesus

is the exact representation

of God.

Okay?

So he put on display

what God was like.

And when he rose

from the dead

and then ascended

into heaven,

do we have no longer

any representation

of Christ

in the earth anymore?

No.

We still do.

And what is it called?

His body.

What is his body?

The church.

Ephesians 1, 22-23

says,

The church,

which is his body,

the fullness of him

who fills all in all.

So God wants to fill up

the world

with this picture

of who God is.

He wants to fill it up

with this entity

called his body.

Even though his physical body

is no longer here,

it ascended into heaven,

he has his body

still on the earth

in this thing called

the church.

And through that,

the fullness of him

who fills all in all.

He wants people to see

what he is like

now not through

his actual physical body

because he ascended.

But he sent his spirit

and filled up

a group of people

to now represent him.

Right?

Ephesians 2, 19-22

says,

You are members

of the household of God

built on the foundation

of the apostles and prophets,

Christ Jesus himself

being the cornerstone

in whom the whole structure

being joined together

grows into a holy temple

in the Lord.

In him you also

are being built together

into a dwelling place

for God by the Spirit.

So he wants the church

to be built together.

And we're not talking

about a building itself.

We're not talking about

the walls of a building

like this.

We're talking about people

being built together

for what?

To be a dwelling place

for God by the Spirit

so that people could see

what God is like.

1 Corinthians 3, 16-17.

And when you hear the word

you in this verse,

the Greek in that is plural.

So it says,

Do you not know

that you, plural,

are God's temple

and that God's Spirit

dwells in you?

If anyone destroys

God's temple,

God will destroy him.

For God's temple is holy

and you, plural,

are that temple.

We are to be a temple

that God inhabits.

That people can see

what God is like

because they see

his body on the earth

in this temple.

1 John 4, verse 12

1 John 4:12

in the NIV says,

No one has ever seen God,

but if we love one another,

God lives in us

and his love

is made complete in us.

So what does that mean?

From that verse,

I can say,

Your revelation

of the love of God

is incomplete

apart from people.

So if you want to be a hermit

and go live in a monastery

or go sit in a prayer room

for all your time,

you're missing it.

It says,

No one has ever seen God,

but if we love one another,

God lives in us

and his love

is made complete in us.

Okay?

Well, is God's love

incomplete?

No.

He's not talking about

his actual love.

He's talking about

the expression of it,

the view of it

is incomplete

apart from real skin

of like real people.

Right?

Real flesh and blood

who are indwelt by God

modeling who God is

by the way they live

in love.

This is why we have

verses like Romans 15, 7.

Welcome one another.

How?

As Christ has welcomed you

for the glory of God.

When people are welcomed

with Christ-like affection

and love,

they know what God is like

because of how we welcome them.

Colossians 3, 13 says,

As the Lord has forgiven you,

so also you must forgive.

When we forgive others

the way we've been forgiven,

people are able to understand

how Christ has forgiven them.

Ephesians 5, 25 again says,

Husbands, love your wives.

How?

As Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her.

Marriage is putting on display

how Christ loves his church.

John 13, 34.

Just as I have loved you,

you also are to love one another.

Being able to see how God loves

because of how we love one another.

John 15, 12 to 13.

This is my commandment

that you love one another.

How?

As I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this,

than someone lay down his life

for his friends.

In 1 John 3, 16.

By this we know love,

that he laid down his life for us

and we ought to lay down our lives

for the brothers.

Do you see this?

The character of God being made known

when we love one another

as we've been loved.

When we forgive one another

as we've been forgiven.

When we welcome one another

as we've been welcomed.

We end up being the body of Christ,

being indwelt by God.

The love of God is shed abroad

into the hearts of those around us

because they've seen it

in a group of people.

It's not theory.

We're making the invisible visible.

God is not visible.

It says,

No one has seen God,

but when we love one another,

God lives in us

and his love is made complete in us.

We are making visible the invisible

so that people now have faith for it.

The invisible made visible

makes the invisible valuable.

It makes the invisible possible.

Wait a second.

I could be loved this way?

I never thought anyone could love me this way

until,

and I for sure never thought

God could love me this way,

until I saw his people love me

the way God loves me.

And it opened my eyes.

It opened my heart.

It helped me to experience something

I had heard about,

I had dreamed about,

but I had never seen.

Now that I've seen it,

now that I've tasted of it,

I'm in.

I'm sold.

And I want as many people as possible

to experience what I've experienced.

You see what I'm saying here?

Number three,

the kingdom of God made known.

We have to care

about the kingdom of God

being made known.

Essentially,

seeing the church

is like kingdom embassies.

What is the kingdom like?

1 Peter 2 verse 9 says,

1 Peter 2:9

You're a holy nation.

And Ephesians 2 verse 19 says,

Ephesians 2:19

You're no longer strangers and aliens,

but you're fellow citizens

with the saints

and members of the household of God.

Philippians 3 verse 20 says,

Philippians 3:20

Your citizenship is in heaven.

So it's a group of people

whose citizenship is in heaven,

a holy nation of heavenly people.

Okay?

So think of it like,

but we're living in a world

that is not ultimately,

right now,

expressed in the way

that our heavenly citizenship

is expressed.

as it is in heaven,

it is not on earth

in all things.

But,

where the church exists

as a heavenly embassy,

just like an embassy

in another country,

all the culture of the country,

all the laws of the country,

all the rules of the country,

are expressed in that embassy.

And there are ambassadors

in those embassies

who go to other places

and represent the kingdom

or the country

from where they're coming.

we too are to build

an expression,

a living model

of what heaven is like,

of what it's like

to be ruled by King Jesus,

of what it's like

to love one another,

take care of one another,

suffer with one another,

rejoice with one another.

We create little pockets

of heaven on earth

called the church

and then become ambassadors

of that

to people

who've never heard of it,

who've never seen it.

And we say,

we speak a message

and then we point

to an expression

as ambassadors

where they can experience

a part of heaven

not just in the words we say

but in the life that we live.

This is the kingdom of God

being made known.

2 Corinthians 5.20 says,

we're ambassadors

for Christ.

God making his appeal

through us.

We implore you

on behalf of Christ

be reconciled to God.

Ephesians 6.19-20

Paul says,

pray that words

may be given to me

and opening my mouth boldly

to proclaim the mystery

of the gospel

for which I am

an ambassador in chains

that I may declare it boldly

as I ought to speak.

Do you see this?

Do you have a vision?

Do you care

about the kingdom of God

being made known

in a group of people

so that

what you say

about God

and his kingdom

you can point to?

You can display it.

People can say,

oh, I get it.

I understand

what you're saying.

I experienced that

the other night

in so-and-so's living room.

Oh, I get it.

I understand.

I experienced that

the other day

when so-and-so

helped me with this

and so-and-so

cried with me.

When so-and-so

watched my kids

as if they were their own.

When so-and-so

cared enough

to speak into my marriage.

When so-and-so

adopted me

as a single person

and is just like

I was a part

of their family.

I understand

this reality

you speak of

in the gospel

because

it's lived

among a group

of people.

Heaven has come down

into a particular

group of people

and it's called

the church.

Some groups of people

would say,

oh, we want to see

that everywhere.

Yes, we do want

to see that everywhere.

But some people

want to do that

by aborting

the means that

God has created

to bring that everywhere.

We're not revivalists

seeking revival.

We are Christians

who are ambassadors

for Christ

who build

an experience

of that

demonstration of people

in the context

of church

and then seek

to be ambassadors

of bringing

as many people

into that as possible.

But the core place

that that's happening

is what Jesus

in his eternal purpose

created the whole earth

for that through the church

this would happen.

There's no other means.

There's no other means.

It's through the church.

And when you get

a vision for that

you do Romans 1,

11 to 12

you say things like

I long to see you

that I may impart

to you some spiritual

gift to strengthen you.

That is

that we may be

mutually encouraged

by each other's faith

both yours and mine.

This is an expression

of the kingdom of God

together

where we're both encouraged

because we're with each other.

It's Hebrews 10,

24 to 25.

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

all the more

as you see

the day drawing near.

It's a group of people

who are encouraging

one another

strengthening one another

building a strong

foundation of kingdom

reality on earth

as it is in heaven.

That's the church.

But it doesn't just

sit there and enjoy

this on earth

as it is in heaven

with a bunch of Christians

where they're in it

the context of church

where it's all about us

and we're never

outward focused

and we have no vision

for mission.

it's a group of people

who are a holy nation

experiencing on earth

as it is heaven

but then functioning

as ambassadors

of that kingdom

ambassadors

of that holy nation

who are constantly

going out to the world

and saying

come experience heaven

come experience

the good news

of the gospel

of the kingdom

right?

The gospel of the kingdom

the good news

an ambassador

is a trumpeter

of the good news

of the kingdom

and he's always

experiencing it

among his local church

so he's not

as Brendan Manning

puts it

a spiritual travel agent

handing out brochures

to places he's never been.

He's been there.

He knows it.

He's experienced it.

And he's able

not only to speak it

and not just speak it

as someone

who wishes

he's been there

who's dreamt about it

who's read about it

but has actually

experienced it

and then his words

have so much more power

because he's not

speaking theory

he's not speaking

about something

he's never seen

or experienced

he's saying

no listen

I've been there

I've experienced this

come experience

the good news

of the gospel

of the kingdom

come experience it

this is what

the good news is

this is why

it's so important

that we are convicted

about building

on earth

as it is in heaven

about building

healthy churches

that model this

a living model

of what we're talking about

this is why

we're so zealous

about this

this is why

Jesus said

in Psalm 69

and then quoted it

in John 2

when he made a whip

and cleared out the temple

zeal for God's house

consumes me

it's a consuming zeal

to see these

local churches

be expressions

of heaven on earth

so that as ambassadors

we're not speaking

of things

that have no weight

that have no glory

that have no reality

okay

the impossible

is made possible

when the invisible

is made visible

what are we making visible

can we make visible

healthy church

do you know how many people

I come into contact

who do not believe

that healthy church

is possible

I mean it's at

epidemic proportions

I'm not discouraged

though

because I have a promise

that

he will build

his church

and the gates of hell

shall not prevail

against it

and so I talk to some people

it looks like

wow it looks like

the gates of hell

are prevailing

it looks like

these people

would never believe

that there's healthy church

and I say

really

my God

will be thwarted

by these things

I don't think so

this is the one

undefeatable

okay

thing that God

has created

it's the church

it cannot lose

it cannot lose

when it

when it is going

against the gates of hell

it will prevail

and we can have

confidence in that

but

man

my heart

beats and longs

to see as many

healthy churches

as possible

so that

those who

have experienced

horrible experiences

in church

or they've started

to think

this isn't even possible

that they can see

no this is possible

and the good news

is in fact that

it is good news

it's awesome

when we can make

the invisible visible

some people have never

seen good church leadership

can we put on display

good church leadership

as elders are appointed

as other people

rise up into

other positions

of leadership

in the church

can we put on display

what good leadership

looks like

can we put on display

what a plurality

of leadership

looks like

instead of

one man shows

that have

one point of failure

and have no

biblical precedent

in the scriptures

but like healthy

leaders working

together

disagreeing well

with one another

working through

things together

can we do that

can we put that

on display

we can

can we put on display

church as family

not just having

the language of family

but the experience

of family

there's nothing

more disillusioning

than having the

language of family

without the expression

of it

don't get so enamored

and dreamy

about the language

of family

when we're not

willingly opening up

our homes

and our hearts

and our schedules

to create real

atmospheres of family

amongst us

you really want to

disillusion someone

talk about family

without actually

putting skin in the game

to create it

and to experience it

let us be the kind

of people

that don't speak

of something

that we don't know

but that really

we can function

as a family

can we make

the impossible

possible by making

the invisible

visible with

being a church

on mission

some people think

there's no

I don't even

understand how

we can be

a church on mission

I don't understand

how small

families of believers

can be on mission

to specific people

and places

and do it in a way

that we're engaged

and excited

it is possible

I've seen it

I'm seeing it here

at Christ Church

let's continue

to put that on display

can we put on display

healthy church membership

so often people

get nauseated

when you even mention

the topic of membership

but I think it's one

of the most beautiful

biblical realities

and when it's played

out well

it is powerful

it is impactful

and it points

to heaven

can we put on display

healthy church discipline

some people

balk at the idea

of church discipline

and say

oh really

you're a church

that does church discipline

I can't tell you

how much fruit

I've seen

I'm calling the wayward soul

back to Jesus

through church discipline

it bears fruit

because it's God's idea

can we put on display

gospel centrality

having our motivation

and our fuel

be the person

and the work of Jesus

in a gospel dense culture

where it's

it's everywhere

it's everywhere

everything we're doing

is because he first loved us

1 John 4 19

can we put on display

a freedom to confess sin

just talking to a brother

the other day

who was a part of another church

in another state

and he lived there

for multiple years

and he ended up

falling into some sin

in his marriage

some sexual sin

and he ended up

confessing it to them

and you would have thought

he said something to them

that they'd never heard before

and they looked at him

with kind of like

kind of

they didn't say it

but they basically said it

we don't do that here

kind of thing

you know

and it's like

what?

and there's churches

like this

where it's like

no no no

we don't talk about our sins

what about a church

that has all

their identity

and their worth

and the person

and the work of Jesus Christ

so that they're free

to share all their foibles

and failures

free to confess their sins

free to lose

because they have

everything in Christ

and so they can lose

their reputation

they can lose

what people might think

of them

because they know

that Jesus

loves them

not for who they are

but for who Jesus is

and what he's done

if we put that on display

can we make that visible

can we make

suffering together

and rejoicing together

visible

can we make an

all of life expression

of church visible

rather than just

this compartmentalized

you can get this

Jesus

but you can't touch that

can we make that visible

with joy

so that people come in

and say

wow this sounds

like way too much

and we say

it is apart from Christ

but in Christ

it's all joy

it's joy

it's pleasure

can we put on display

healthy marriage

can we put on display

healthy marriage

I remember one of the main reasons

I wanted to get married

as a young person

is because

the youth group

that I was a part of

at the time

that I was

helping pastor

at the time

more

more kids than not

were coming from

divorced families

and they had no clue

because they'd never seen it

they didn't know

what a healthy family

looked like

and I wanted to get married

and have kids

so that I could

make the invisible visible

I wanted people

in broken families

to be able to see

no it's possible

it's possible

can we put on display

healthy marriage

can we put on display

healthy parenting

child discipline

can we put on display

disciplining our children

in a loving way

in a consistent way

so that our kids

rise up

and call us blessed

and people don't look

upon them with scorn

can we put on display

an orderly kids

an orderly family

orderly large families

who love Jesus

some people think

it's so spiritual

to have a bunch of kids

if you have a bunch of kids

and they're disorderly

all you did

would just create

more disorder

if you have a bunch of kids

and they don't love Jesus

there's no blessing in that

that's a curse

you're just creating

a bunch more people

who don't love Jesus

there's nothing spiritual

about a large family

unless it's stewarded

but can we put that

on display

can we put on display

spiritual fathers

and mothers

can we put on display

healthy dating

can we put on display

this reality

which so many people

have no grit for

that Jesus Christ died

so that people

could be free from lust

I'm not talking about

for one week

or two weeks

I'm talking about

for their whole life

can we put on display

that lust isn't something

that guys just need

to settle and say

this is just the way it is

I know many guys

who believe that

who no longer believe that

and they walk out

freedom from lust

it's possible

and God wants us

to put it on display

can we put on display

healthy gender roles

can we put on display

charismatic gifts

that aren't charismatic

wackiness

but like real solid

biblical reality

that builds up the church

can we put on display

those things

we can

and we will

by God's grace

and I'm asking you

to believe for these things

I'm asking you

to believe for a church

that this is possible

and it has nothing

to do with any of your

own strength

or wisdom

this is God's church

if this lands on you

as burden

I have good news

let it go

it's not your church

Christ's church

isn't your church

Christ's church

isn't my church

it's his church

we co-labor

but he's ultimately

the one building

his grace is sufficient

and hey

trust me

I get stressed

about church stuff

I have many times

when I read that verse

that Paul says

about the anxiety

of the church is

I feel it

but at the end of the day

I just gotta say

it's not my church

Jesus is building

his church

he loves

and cares for her

like I could never

love and care for her

like you could never

love and care for her

and he's building

something

that the gates of hell

cannot prevail against

that is assuring

but it leaves me

to my last point here

you have to count the cost

you have to count the cost

it is costly

to have a church

like I'm talking of

it is costly

now there's a cost

that is death unto death

and I don't know about you

but I'm not really

into death unto death

that's not even

that's not cool

just die for death's sake

nah

not really

I don't really like that

Jesus never told us

to die

just for death's sake

it was always

always death

unto life

death unto life

our death

our sacrifice

our giving up

of our lives

is to experience

the life of Christ

if you believe that

then you can

gladly give

everything you have

to purchase

the pearl of great price

or the treasure

in the field

and you can do it

like the guy who did it

did it

in his

joy

in his joy

do you have joy

in your sacrifice

some of you are like

oh my gosh

I've heard this before

heard it in past churches

you're freaking me out

Josh

I get it

I've been that person

being freaked out as well

by someone else

saying it

and all I can say

to that is

real things happen

from real broken people

that are hard to overcome

but Jesus is the same

yesterday

today

and forever

and he's calling us

to believe him

and to trust him

and to say

once again

just like Paul said

I die daily

it's a daily choice

it's a daily to say

you know God

I'm having a hard time

trusting today

I've met a lot of your people

that are really hard to trust

and I'm sure

God understands

because he happened to

walk on earth

with those people

and they betrayed him

they killed him

he knows

about people

who can't be trusted

he knows about people

who betray

he knows about people

who treat you

poorly

Jesus knows

he is a sympathetic

high priest

isn't it amazing

that the one we serve

can relate to us

because he's our high priest

and he went through

what we went through

that's an amazing thing

he's not asking us

to give ourselves

to these realities

thinking

oh

this is a walk in the park

he knows

he knows

and he's with us

and he'll never leave us

or forsake us

and some of us

have maybe felt

like the church

through the church

that we've been forsaken

by God

and maybe you never

thought of it that way

because we thought

oh actually

I was forsaken by people

but deep down

what is underneath

the hurt

from being forsaken

by people

is a pain

that God himself

has forsaken us

and I want to say

to you

with full confidence

God has never forsaken

God has never forsaken you

and he will never leave you

he will never forsake you

he will be with you

always

how long

to the very end

of the age

and then he's going to

come back

and bring us

to be with him

so

that's a good promise

but it costs

it does cost

God is not

we have to be honest

about it

to say

hey we want a church

like this

but it doesn't cost

anything

would be

I'd be

I'd be a salesman

selling you something

that's not real

and I can't do that

Luke 14 28

says

which of you

desiring to build

a tower

does not first

sit down

and count the cost

whether he has

enough to complete it

I'm asking you

if you consider

the cost of a church

like that I'm talking

about

an invisible church

that we want to make

visible

that we're starting

to do

in these two years

and I praise God

for that

but it's going to

continue to cost

and a lot of times

it costs more

than we'd like to pay

so we need to remember

what do we need to remember

well 1 Corinthians 15 58

NIV says

always

give yourselves

fully

to the work

of the Lord

and I love that

that's not the end

of the verse

why

how

because you know

that your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

some of you

maybe the devil

has told you

over the years

that your labor

in the Lord

was not in vain

or was in vain

maybe you looked

at certain things

you've given yourself

to that didn't turn

out the way

you wanted them to

they didn't turn

out the way

you had hoped

they would

and the devil

says see

that was in vain

that was vanity

you gave yourself

to something

that had no worth

you gave yourself

to something

that didn't go

as you thought

it was

you gave yourself

to something

that failed

maybe

and God

says here

always give

yourselves fully

when always

how much

fully

to what

the work

of the Lord

why

because your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

someone needs

to hear that

this morning

that your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

did you hear

what I said

your labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

so why do we

give ourselves

to this stuff

why do we

give ourselves

to seeing

the invisible

made visible

so that

the invisible

can be possible

for a group

of people

who have been

disillusioned

we do it

because our labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

our labor

in the Lord

is not in vain

Tom Brady

in his Hall

of Fame speech

you're quoting Tom Brady

yeah I'm quoting Tom Brady

and his Hall

of Fame speech

said

to be successful

at anything

the truth is

you don't have

to be special

you just have

to be what

most people

aren't

consistent

determined

and willing

to work for it

no shortcuts

consistently believing

that the impossible

is possible

and being determined

to work for it

to be displayed

is what is required

it's consistency

if you want

a church

that you haven't

experienced

you have to do

something

that you

haven't done

do you hear me

if you want

a church

that you've

not experienced

you have to

do something

that you

haven't done

to keep

doing the same

thing you've

always done

expecting to

have a different

church experience

is a fool's errand

we have to be

willing to count

the cost

be consistent

and put in

the work

and I'm thankful

that there's a

group of people

in this room

that have shown

over the last

two years

that you're

willing to do

it

and for that

I'm proud

to be a part

of it

I'm excited

to be a part

of it

I am

grateful

to be a part

of it

you guys

are

some people

that I really

appreciate

and what you've

done this last

two years

is powerful

it's powerful

to see the work

that you guys

have put in

hasn't always

been easy

but you guys

have done it

and you're still

doing it

and you're putting

in the work

and you left

certain things

that were hard

to leave

you left certain

things that were

much easier

and you said

no we want

to make the

invisible visible

for a group

of people

that haven't

seen it yet

and so we're

doing this

thing called

Christ Church

and for that

I applaud you

for that

I say well

done

and I say

don't let up

don't let up

keep going

because Luke

18

27

says

what is

impossible

with man

is possible

with God

let's build

a living model

for God's

glory

and the good

of those

who don't yet

believe that

the impossible

is possible

amen

amen