Our Ancient Faith Week 4 | We Believe in the Universal Church

Let's pray together, family church.

Our God, we bow before you, our Creator, our King, our Savior, our Father, our Friend.

We thank you for Jesus crucified on the cross for our sins and raised from the dead.

And now, God, as we've come to meet with you, as we open your word, the Bible, would you speak to us as your people by your spirit?

Give us grace and give us a heart to receive everything from your word.

Help us to receive it by faith.

And we do receive it in Jesus' name.

And all God's people say, Amen.

You can be seated.

Welcome again to Family Church.

My name is Jimmy Scrogins.

I'm one of the pastors here.

If I haven't had a chance to meet you, I would love to meet you while you were here on the property this morning.

I've already met a lot of people who told me this is my very first time to Family Church, and we're really glad that all of you guys are here.

I especially want to just thank our PBA students and faculty and staff and administration.

Lord, thank you so much for being here on PBA Day.

Let's give it up for PBA.

It's a great partnership with us at Family Church and Pobe Atlantic University.

But at Family Church, what we do every Sunday, the main thing we do is we have a Bible study, and we're going to have a Bible study right now.

So go ahead and get your Bibles out.

Turn on your Bibles on your devices.

Grab a Bible from the pew in front of you and open up to the New Testament book, Ephesians.

We're going to be in Ephesians chapter 4 this morning.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

This morning we are in message number four in a five-part series on the Apostles' Creed, showing that our Christian faith isn't new, it is ancient.

It goes all the way back to the time of the Apostles, 2,000 years ago, and that is the same faith that we are declaring and living out today.

We've already had an awesome, yep, ancient thunder, ancient faith.

It's going to be exciting this morning.

No telling what can happen.

We've already had an awesome time here in the room, celebrating Palm Beach Atlantic University and our great partnership with that university over many years.

Love seeing Chris get baptized this morning.

I want to thank all of Chris's friends and our young adult group for being here.

That was incredible.

What a testimony.

And some of you are out there in the congregation this morning and you have received Jesus by faith, but you've never been baptized.

You should follow Chris's example and you should get baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit as a believer by immersion in water.

Also, I love the video of the family that has that has come to Christ and all been baptized together.

And now they're serving Jesus, and that's why we need neighborhood churches in every neighborhood.

And that's why it's so important, and that's what we do here at Family Church.

All right, well, we're in this series on the Apostles' Creed.

If you don't have the background on it, catch up on our YouTube channel.

But today we're going to talk about the importance of the church in the Christian life.

The importance of the church in the Christian life.

If you're going to be a Christian, if you've turned from your sins and you've received Jesus by faith for yourself, then your church family has to be a big part of how you live your life if you're going to follow the teachings of the Bible and the pattern that we have in the New Testament.

Now, when I was a kid, my mom and dad were Christians.

My dad was a high school teacher and a coach.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom, but they were Christian people.

And our family, because we were Christians, we went to church a lot.

I don't know if you grew up in a house like this, but in my house, we went to church on Sunday mornings and it was not optional.

Sunday nights we went back to church.

Wednesday nights, we went back to church.

Lots of times on Tuesday nights we went to church, and if they had any special event, we went to that.

I remember one time when I was about the, I don't know, eighth or ninth grade, younger teenager, and it was a Sunday afternoon, and I was in my room doing something, and my mom came in there and she said, Hey, why aren't you getting ready?

You know we have to go to church.

And I said, Well, mom, I don't think I'm going to go tonight.

Because on Sunday nights we had youth choir, and I thought youth choir was dumb, and so I was like, I don't want to go to youth choir.

My mom just started laughing.

And she said, Get in the car, we're going to church.

And that was the end of that.

I really didn't have an option.

Do you know what that was?

That was called solid parenting by my mom.

Because my mom wanted me to know whether I believed it or not, whether I liked it or not, whether I wanted to go or not.

My mom wanted me to know that in our family, the church was a priority because Christ was a priority.

Now, when I was in my young 20s, I thought I was going to be in the military, and that didn't work out for a number of reasons.

Then I thought I was going to be an attorney, and then that didn't really, really fire me up anymore.

And so I felt God calling me to be a pastor.

And that's what I did.

And so I've given the last you know 30, 35 years of my life to serving vocationally as my job in church.

It's basically just two churches, one in Kentucky called High View Baptist Church in Louisville, and then here for the last 18 years since 2008.

And this church has been such a vital part.

You say, of course it is, because you're the pastor.

I know, but aside from being the pastor, this church has been such a vital part for Christian and me, building our marriage over the last 18 years.

It's been such a vital part of our children.

Our children have grown up right here in this church.

They've been baptized, many of them, right here in this church.

I've made them sing in choirs right here in this church.

They have gone to camp right here in this church.

It's been integral to the fabric of our family.

And I would hope that would be true whether I was a pastor or not.

And I want that to be true for you.

If you're a Christian and you live here, your church family should be part of the fabric of your Christian life.

It helps you build your marriage, it helps you live out your singleness, it helps you live as a widow.

It helps you survive your divorce.

It helps you in all kinds of ways, and you should make your church central.

But this church isn't just a family tradition, it's just not a nice piece of retroamericana where we remember how life used to be years ago.

The church is central because the church is God's visible outpost of his kingdom in this world.

Every church where they preach the gospel, including this one, is a visible outpost of the kingdom of God in this world.

So today we're going to talk about why it's so important to God, why God expects us as Christians to prioritize our church in our lives.

So we're going to read from Ephesians chapter 4, then we're going to recite the Apostles' Creed, and we're going to talk about why the church should be important in your life if you're going to be a Christian.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Let me read the Bible.

This is Ephesians chapter 4, St.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Paul writing to the neighborhood church in the ancient city of Ephesus.

And here's what St.

Paul says.

I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who was over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gifts.

Therefore it says, When he ascended on high, he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.

In saying he ascended, what does it mean?

But that it also descended into the lower regions of the earth.

He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature, the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried around by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

And this is the word of God, and all God's people say, Amen.

We received God's word at family church.

You can see how important the church is in the mind of St.

Paul.

And you can see how vital the church is for the program of God in this world.

And you can see how crucial the neighborhood church is supposed to be for your own spiritual vitality.

Okay, now let's recite.

Amen.

Let's recite the Apostles' Creed and notice as we recite the Apostles' Creed, the two lines that pertain directly to the church.

Okay, ready?

Let's say it all out loud together.

We'll put it on the screens.

This is the Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the universal church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen.

And these are the most important central teachings of all of Christianity.

And one of those teachings is I believe in the universal church, the communion of saints.

And what is the church?

The church is where the saints commune.

The church is where the saints, and you know what the saints are in this context?

The saints in this context are all true believers in Jesus.

Everyone who's turned from their sins and received Jesus by faith for themselves, those are the saints.

Which means if that pertains to you, you are a saint.

So when you go home tonight and your spouse tries to give you some, some instructions, you can say, hey, you can't talk to me like that.

I'm a saint.

You can let them know.

And because because all of you, if you're a Christian, you are a saint.

And the church is where the saints of God commune, where we connect, where we gather.

It is the visible connecting place for all of the saints of God.

I believe in the universal church, the communion of the saints.

Why is the church such a big deal?

What do we believe about the church?

And where does family church fit into those beliefs?

Well, in our text, Ephesians chapter 4, the Bible, you see that God is at work.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

The church is God's idea, and the church belongs to God.

This is family church, also known as the first Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, Florida, established in 1901.

And this church right here is a big deal to God because it doesn't belong to any human being or any group of human beings.

Sometimes people will tell me, some people say, Oh, Pastor Jimmy, I really enjoy going to your church.

I don't know what they mean because I'm the lead pastor.

I appreciate that they enjoy coming here.

I understand what they mean, but are you, if you're a member and you ever say that to me, you'll know I will correct you.

I really enjoy going to your church.

And I say, oh no, no.

It's not my church at all.

The church belongs to Jesus, and this is our church.

If you're a member here, this is not Pastor Jimmy's church, or Pastor Derek's church, or Pastor Christian's church.

You don't have you shouldn't say, hey, I love coming to you guys' church.

If this is your church, this is our church.

And it really belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it?

Well, in this text, you see that God is at work.

It belongs to Him.

The church is God's idea.

Look in your text.

Let me just show you a few places where you can see that.

Verse 1, God is the one who has called us together as saints to commune.

Verse 3, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, is bringing unity and peace to our church.

Verse 6, God is in charge of all of this church.

Verse 10, Jesus is filling all things, including this church.

Verse 12, this church is the body of Christ.

Verse 13, the church is growing into the fullness of Christ.

Verse 15, Christ is the head of the church.

The point is that the church is God's idea.

He's the one who invented it.

So this church and every church that preaches the gospel doesn't belong to you, the members.

It doesn't belong to me, the pastor.

It belongs to God.

It is his.

Every square inch of property the family church owned belongs to God.

Every square inch of buildings that we build belongs to God.

Every dollar that is put in the offering plate or sent in online, it all belongs to God.

All of the members belong to God.

All of the children belong to God.

Every parking spot belongs to God.

This church is God's.

And all of you belong to God.

If you're a Christian, and I know you belong to Him because you were purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, crucified for your sins and raised from the dead.

You are not even your own.

You don't even belong to yourself if you're a Christian.

You belong to God because Christ has bought you.

That's why throughout the New Testament, if you read it, the Bible uses multiple word pictures, metaphors to describe the church so that we can understand it.

One of the metaphors of the Bible calls our church the bride of Christ, because Christ loves the church like that.

The Bible says that the church is God's field.

In other words, God has to work it and cultivate it.

See, the Bible calls the church God's construction project, because building it brick upon brick with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone.

The Bible calls the church God's flock because he is the good shepherd and we are his sheep.

But here in this text, the metaphor that St.

Paul uses is the body.

The body.

And it's easy to understand because it's talking about all of the different parts that are connected by one body.

And you just think about your own body and all of the different parts that are connected and yet they are still one body.

That's how a church is supposed to work.

So you can see that the church is not something that we're doing for God.

So you don't say, hey man, I'm going down to the church and I'm going to do something really big for God.

The church is the project that God is doing for your good and for his glory.

This is not something that we do for God.

This is something that God has given to us for our good and for his glory.

So what do we believe about all this?

Hey, if you're going to take notes, I'd encourage you to do that when you come to family church.

Get out your program, write some things down when we have a Bible study so you can learn something and have something to share with somebody later.

So here's what God calls every believer to do and believe about the church if you're a Christian.

Number one, if you're a Christian, you must prioritize your church family.

If you are a Christian, you should prioritize your church family.

In our text of scripture, Ephesians chapter 4, connection with your church family is assumed.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

It is assumed.

Now, in this day that we live in, it's not uncommon to find somebody and they'll say, Well, I'm a Christian and I love Jesus.

I just don't like to get bogged down with a church.

Because my connection is just between me and God, and God loves me and I love him, and we have an understanding, and I don't really need a church.

Yeah, I go to one every once in a while, or I hop around to this church or that church.

I don't really need a church family because my relationship with God is very personal.

And if you said all of that and St.

Paul was sitting right here, if St.

Paul himself was here and you started explaining that to him, say, I don't need a church, I'm a Christian that doesn't need a church, Saint Paul would look at you like you are crazy.

St.

Paul would say, that does not compute with me.

St.

Paul would say, you don't what?

You don't connect with a what?

What is the matter with you, man?

Come on, man.

Look at the text.

Paul isn't saying if you go to church, bear with one another, and maintain the bond of peace.

Paul is assuming that every Christian, every true Christian is connected with a church.

Think about it.

I know some of you guys have jumped from church to church to church because you didn't like the people that were there, and somebody hurt your feelings, and then this happened, and then that happened, and then your kid got their feelings hurt, and then your mom got her feelings hurt, and you've been to about 16 different churches in the last 14 years, and I'm not throwing shade on you, but what I am suggesting to you is why would Paul instruct Christians to bear with one another and to maintain the bond of peace, unless in a family sometimes we have a little conflict.

In a family, sometimes we don't get everything we want.

In a family, sometimes we don't agree with every single little thing that happens.

And you know what?

That's part of being in a family, that's part of being in a flock, that's part of being in a field, that's part of being in a construction project, it's part of being in a marriage where Christ's bride, and it's part of being in the body.

So if you are a Christian, you should be a part, not just of the general church, but a part of a church.

And St.

Paul assumes that in this text.

And by the way, again, this is not my church, Pastor Jimmy's church.

If you remember here, this is our church.

Well, how does the Apostles' Creed reflect this connection?

Well, the Apostles' Creed, a version that we use, says, I believe in the universal church.

Now, some of you grew up in a different kind of a church and you recited this as a kid, and you said, I think we used to say, I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.

You guys remember when you used to say that when you were a kid?

Why do we now change that to universal?

We change it because when you say the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, you're not saying I believe in the institution headed by the Pope, the Holy Catholic Church.

The word in that context, Catholic, simply means universal.

So to avoid confusion, we've just changed the word Catholic because some people think that means we are swearing allegiance to the institutional Catholic Church, but the word Catholic just means universal.

So we're saying, hey, we believe in the universal church.

And there's two ways that the New Testament talks about the church when the New Testament uses the word church.

One is called the universal church, and one is called the local church or the neighborhood church.

So here's what the universal church is the universal church, this is important that you know this.

The universal church is all Christians, every all true Christians from everywhere for all time.

That is the universal church.

All true Christians from everywhere from all time.

In other words, this is all the people, if you're a Christian, this is all the people you're going to heaven with.

That's the universal church.

All the people that you're going to heaven with, all the people who've turned from their sins and received Jesus by faith.

The Catholics who've done that, they're in the true church.

The Methodists who've done that are in the true church.

The the Baptists who've done that are in the true church.

The non-denominational people who've done that, they're in the true church.

All true Christians from all time everywhere are in the universal church.

But then the other sense that the Bible talks about the church is the neighborhood church.

The local church.

And the local church, the neighborhood church is this.

It's a group of Christians who commit together to live as an outpost of the universal church.

And that's what we have right here at Family Church.

We are a group of Christians who commit together.

This is our church.

We are an outpost of the kingdom of God in this neighborhood, and all the neighborhoods where we have family church in South Florida.

This is our church family.

Okay, so why is it important?

Why do I have to be a part of the church family?

Like, okay, that's fine, Pastor Jimmy.

You and all your little guys that run around here, and you guys have a little outpost down here, and we love it.

But like, why do I have to be such a part of all of this?

Because that's the biblical pattern.

If you follow what the Bible teaches, the biblical pattern is that.

Someone becomes a Christian, they're converted to Christ.

They make their decision to receive Jesus by faith.

First thing.

If you haven't done that, you should do that first.

If you've never received Jesus by faith for yourself, don't worry about all the other stuff I'm saying.

Until you do that, this doesn't matter.

The first thing you should do is receive Jesus by faith for yourself.

But once you become converted to Christianity, then you should get baptized, believers baptism by immersion in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, the way Jesus says to do it.

And when you get baptized, you don't just get generally baptized.

You should get baptized into a church family.

So like today, Chris got up here, he got baptized in front of everyone.

He didn't just get baptized, and now he's a free agent Christian, and all the different churches can come try to recruit him.

He has gotten baptized into this church family.

So when did Chris become a member at Family Church?

Right then.

You saw it.

When he was baptized at Family Church, that's when he became a member because he was baptized into a church family.

So, well, who gave you the right to do that?

How do you get to just declare that because someone's baptized, now they get to be a member of your church?

I'm not making this stuff up.

It's in the Bible.

The pattern is in the Bible.

I don't have time to show you all of it, but in Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2 is the founding of the first church ever.

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

It was in the city of Jerusalem.

And in this Acts chapter 2, Saint Peter preaches this phenomenal sermon in the streets of Jerusalem.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

3,000 people make a decision to receive Jesus by faith, and he says, okay, let's get baptized.

3,000 people get baptized, and those become the first members of family church in Jerusalem.

Look it up, it's in the Bible.

Family church.

Well, not family, some of it's in the Bible.

But the point is, the pattern in the Bible is that you become a believer, you get baptized, and your baptism is when church membership starts.

So you shouldn't, that's that's how come uh if you just like are out on the beach somewhere with somebody and you feel like the spirit moving, and you don't just baptize someone, they should get baptized as a part in the context and under the authority of a neighborhood church.

That's because when you get baptized, you should be joining a neighborhood church.

That is the pattern in the Bible.

Because look what happens in Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The 3,000 people who got baptized were added that day to the church in Jerusalem.

That is the pattern.

So today, Chris gets baptized, he was added this day to the church here in West Palm Beach.

And when you join a family church, you should prioritize it.

You should prioritize attendance.

You should be here at every opportunity.

You should prioritize faithful giving.

You should prioritize serving.

You should prioritize relationships, which means some of you need to get in a group.

You've been coming here long enough, looking at the back of some people's heads.

You should get in a group, make a friend.

Uh you should prioritize involvement for your kids.

We have all kinds of ways we can help you and partner with you to raise your kids to know Jesus.

You should get involved.

And look, our world is broken, and one day Jesus will return to make all things right.

But in the meantime, the two places where the kingdom of God is experienced, where you have the outpost of the kingdom of God, is the Christian family and the Christian church.

Those are the two places where God is establishing outposts for his kingdom all over the world, and you should participate.

Hey guys, there's a lot of other things you could do with your time and your money and your life's energy.

You could I mean the lacrosse tournament is great.

The hunting camp can be a lot of fun.

A day out on the boat, it's all fine.

But I'm gonna tell you right now, especially if you have children, your children are gonna know what you honor the most.

Not what you say you honor the most.

They're gonna know what you honor the most.

And your children are likely to give you more of what you actually honor.

And more than your kids, and more than your pastor, God knows what you honor.

God knows.

And you should honor what God honors, and God loves his church.

So when the Apostles creep, we say, I believe in the universal church, and I could just say it this way, as bluntly as I can.

If you're going to claim to be a Christian, that means you're claiming to be in the church, then you should also be in a church.

Do you guys follow me?

If you're gonna be a part of the church, you should be a part of a church.

Okay, number two on your notes.

What else does St.

Paul teach us?

Pursue maturity through your church.

Pursue maturity through your church.

Huge emphasis in our text this morning.

What is the purpose of the church in our life?

To help us to grow up into Christ.

And what is the structure that God has designed so that this can happen?

Look at your text, verse 11.

God has given the church all of these gifted men and women to help you, to teach you the Bible, to coach you and modern Christian maturity in front of you.

So in the Bible, you read about the prophets and the apostles who laid the foundation for the church.

And then in these days, God continues to raise up pastors and teachers, shepherds who can help us understand what the Bible is teaching so we can grow up in our faith.

And every Christian needs a church family because every Christian needs pastors.

You need pastors.

That's the way God designed us to work.

Just like a family needs a mom and a dad.

A church needs pastors.

You say, Oh yeah?

Well, I'm sure you really like to say that, don't you, Pastor Jimmy?

Because this is your thing, and you're the pastor, and we all need you so much.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

And guess who else needs pastors?

Pastors need pastors.

You know why?

Because I'm a shepherd, but I'm also a sheep.

And that's why at Family Church we have multiple pastors.

That's why my family and I have Pastor John McTaggart and Pastor Christian and Pastor C.

Rod and Pastor Derek.

We have others too because believers require pastors to grow up properly, which means pastors who are believers also require pastors to grow up properly.

So all of us need pastors, and that's why you need to be a part of a church so you know who your pastors are.

But it's not only pastors, the whole church family participates.

And what is the result of my pastors and my church family teaching me all this stuff?

Verse 13.

The goal is mature manhood.

Mature manhood.

When you become a Christian, you're just a baby Christian.

You don't know anything, you don't know how to do anything.

You you just you just toddle around like a toddler.

You need a lot of help.

You have to be fed baby food.

There's nothing wrong with that because when you first become a Christian, you don't know.

You're figuring it out.

Some of you are there right now, and you should not be ashamed of that.

You should just go, Yeah, I just became a Christian this year.

I'm learning a lot.

So every time I come to church, they tell me something, I go, Oh, didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that.

Okay, I won't do that anymore.

Oh, didn't know I was supposed to do that.

Okay, I'll start doing that.

Because you're you're learning.

That's how all of us are.

But you get saved and you get baptized, you start plugging in here at family church, and you're gonna start to grow up and you're gonna learn and you're gonna develop, and it's gonna be no time before you are helping to teach others.

That's how the kingdom of God works.

Because you're supposed to become more like Jesus.

That's what growing up really is.

And none of us are perfect, man.

We're all working on it, we're all uh works in progress, but we're moving the right direction.

And the results of maturity is what some of you really are missing out on.

The result of maturity, listen to this: the result of maturity is stability.

The result of maturity is stability.

Look what he says in verse 14.

When you become mature, all of a sudden you stop being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and by human cunning and deceitful scheming.

So when someone, when you become mature and you know what you believe and you know why you believe it, because you've been studying the Bible, you've been listening to good teaching, when you get there, then someone said you hear a false teacher, or you hear somebody teach something that's not right, or you hear somebody say something that's not true.

Now, when you're a baby Christian, you just get mad.

When you're a teenage Christian, you know, you're just growing up, you just get mad.

Somebody says something, you know, you get you want to fight them, you want to prove them wrong.

But when you become a mature Christian, you just go, you know what?

That's not right.

That's not true.

I I know what the Bible says, I know how to interpret the Bible.

My pastors have taught me, I've studied on my own.

I know that that's not right.

I don't have to get mad about it.

So what do you do then?

If you're mature and stable, verse 15, you learn how to speak the truth in love.

You don't go around trying to own the non-Christians with your hilarious retorts, putting everyone in their place, cutting everybody down to size.

When you become a mature Christian, you're stable, you learn how to speak the truth in love because your job is not to beat someone in an argument, your job is to persuade them to turn from their sins and receive Jesus.

So you're trying to actually learn how to disagree without being disagreeable.

That's speaking the truth in love.

And why does that happen?

Verse 15, because you are growing up in Christ.

You are growing up in Christ, you are learning, and that's the progression of the Christian life.

Hey, look when it says in verse 14.

You're not supposed to say little kids forever.

You're not supposed to say little spiritual babies forever.

You're supposed to grow up in a local church will help you do that.

You say, okay, but that's fine.

What can I actually do though, Pastor Jimmy?

Thank you for all this theology.

Okay, you've beaten us to death with we're supposed to really prioritize our church.

We get it.

What do we want us to do?

Number three on your notes.

Find your place to serve.

Find your place to serve.

St.

Paul is saying that serving in your church is part of the pathway to Christian maturity.

When you serve, it's part of God's pathway to Christian maturity.

The pastor's job is not to do everything in the church family.

The pastor's job, verse 12, is to equip the saints, to equip the body to do the work of ministry.

And actually, pastors are supposed to be more like coaches, and the church members are supposed to be playing the game.

That's what St.

Paul is teaching.

And that's why it actually happens really well at Family Church for the most part.

Did you know at family church?

We have thousands of volunteers that are serving the Lord on a weekly basis.

And you know how many pastors we have at all 23 of our locations?

We have 67 pastors and thousands of volunteers and tens of thousands of people who call Family Church their home.

And what kind of stuff?

Well, you seem like I've never volunteered or anything.

I've never tried to serve.

Like what kind of stuff can I do?

Because I'm like, well, here's something.

You know, we have people that come up here, uh give a half a day or a full day, and they do office work during the week.

They just help us.

We have a lot of office work that needs to be done.

There are people who take care of preschool kids on Sundays.

There are people who fix food.

There are people who take pictures and video.

There are people who run video cameras.

Some of them are in the room running them right now.

There are people who come up here and lead music.

There are people who fix and repair and renovate our facilities on a regular basis.

There are people who teach the Bible.

There are people who go visit shut-ins, people who can't come to church and pray with them and be a blessing to them.

There are people who mentor people in their marriages.

And it's gotta be like that.

You know what you know what some an old an old coach said that a football game is like watching 22 people who desperately need rest being watched by 10,000 people who desperately need exercise.

And sometimes that's how church is, isn't it?

22 people who desperately need rest, being observed by thousands of people who desperately need exercise.

But a family church, we don't want it to be like that.

We want everyone in the game.

And the sign of a healthy church is verse 16.

The members of the body are building up the body, and every member has a part to play.

Look at verse 16.

St.

Paul talks about the whole body.

St.

Paul says every joint has to be involved.

St.

Paul says each part must do its work.

You get that?

Hey, a family church, we want no man and no woman and no child left behind.

None.

We want everybody to have a chance.

Every joint, every part, the whole body.

And that means that every person matters.

The family church, you say, well, I don't know a lot.

It doesn't matter.

Every person matters.

All the balcony people, give me a wave up there, balcony people.

Good to see you guys.

Balcony people matter.

People in the front, in the spray zone, you matter.

People in the back, you you matter.

Everybody matters.

People who've been a Christian a long time, you matter.

If you're brand new to this, you matter too, and you have a part to play.

And how will you serve in the body of Christ?

Let me give you this one simple, concrete way.

A family church is going to be your spot.

September 13th, we're adding a third service.

We're changing our times.

I need some of you guys to say, I'll go to the 8:30 service.

I need some of you guys to say, I'll go to the 11:30 service.

You say, Oh, if I do that, I'm not going to be able to go out to lunch.

I know, but you could go out to breakfast.

I mean, make an adjustment, guys.

That's what I'm trying to say.

The body has to build itself up.

The body has to build itself up in love.

And I'm asking you, because 9 30 is the biggest group.

A lot of you guys have been to church a long time.

You could help make some room for some other people.

This is one simple way you could serve your church family is by helping us create some space in the middle of service.

The Apostles' Creed says, I believe in the universal church, in the communion of saints.

And you see what it says there.

It says, I believe.

And we say this every week during the Apostles' Creed.

At some point, your dad's faith and your mom's faith and the legacy they handed you and your spouse and your friends, it's not about them.

They can't believe for you.

At some point, it really does come down to you and God.

And what do you believe and what are you going to do about the church?

And some of you are like, all right, I'm sold that I need to be in a church, but I don't like this church.

Not a problem.

We're full.

If you want to go to another church, I'm being totally serious.

It would be okay if you go to heaven from a different church.

I'm serious.

Church is, I'm not trying to get you to leave the church.

I want you to be here.

We're trying to make more room.

We're starting more churches.

We'll use every single member we can, but I'm just telling you right now, if this church is not your cup of tea, find one that is and make that church the outpost that you're building.

Find, find, find your people.

But at some point it comes down to you and God.

What do you believe about Jesus Christ?

Have you received him by faith?

What are you doing about baptism?

What are you doing about church membership?

And how are you serving the Lord?

And this is one of the measurable ways, prioritizing the church.

It's a major way, it's a measurable way that you can demonstrate your faith in Jesus.

And it helps you have a measurable way that you can put Jesus first in your life, which is number four on your notes.

Put Christ first.

And you might think, well, this sermon isn't about Christ.

This sermon's about church.

I guess that's sort of true, but you know the church actually exists for Christ.

It belongs to Him.

And St.

Paul said that Christ is the head of the church, and he's the one doing the heavy lifting.

So if you're not a Christian yet, you should put Christ first by repenting of your sins, receiving Jesus by faith.

If you haven't been baptized, you should put Christ first by getting baptized.

If you've wandered from God, put Christ first again like you used to.

Come back to the Lord to get back involved in a church.

Find a place to serve.

And I look at you.

And I see all your kids.

And I think about my mom when I was just a teenager.

Before we had Instagram, we were taking pictures on instomatic little cameras.

And I think about my mom.

Starting to laugh.

Get in the car.

We're going to church.

As a part of you, I should hear your own voice from your past, or maybe the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Let's get in the car.

Let's serve our church.

Because Jesus has done it all for us to pull us in, to lift us up, to grow us up, to give us a part to play in his kingdom.

And he is the head of it all and to help us remember how powerful Jesus is in our lives.

As the cornerstone of this church and as the head of this church, we take the Lord's Supper every Sunday.

We're going to do that right now.

And the Lord's Supper is the way we remember the sacrifice of Christ, his broken body and his shed blood.

And the Lord's Supper is for Christians.

If you're here this morning, you're not a Christian, you should not take the Lord's Supper today.

Why don't you just wait until you become a Christian for yourself?

And then you can take the Lord's Supper with integrity.

And at Family Church, we believe and we teach you should not take the Lord's Supper until you become a believer.

You've been baptized as a believer by immersion in water, and you become a part of a neighborhood church.

Some of you say, Well, I'm a believer and I've been baptized, but this isn't my church.

I get that.

If you're a baptized believer and you would you have another place that you go to church and you would take the Lord's Supper with your church family, take it with us this morning as part of the extended family of Jesus that goes around the world.

But right now, let's bow our heads, let's draw close to Christ.

Let's confess our sins and let's remember Jesus, and then we'll eat and drink the Lord's Supper together in just a moment.