The Nature of the Church

And happy New Year we we missed some of you who are on holiday,

Mom Joyce and others. We missed you and want to say to

you welcome back. We did.

We had a wonderful time during Christmas as well as on the 28th

when we went to to the gardens just to enjoy some nice

fellowship. Welcome to you staff as well.

I didn't see you. And some good news is we have

finally moved to this side of the world and so no longer

driving to Kels River and come to church.

You'll find us somewhere in Rwanda, Bosch.

And please do pray for the sale of our house.

We've signed the contract, but please do pray that it it goes

through as well. But it's good to be close to

this side of the world. So if you have your Bibles with

you, please turn with me to Acts Chapter 20.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 20, We're going to read 1 passage.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Laura, by the way, it was your anniversary as well.

Happy anniversary to Laura and Greg, guys.

OK, Acts chapter 20. So what I'm going to do this

Acts 20 · chapter mention

morning? This is not so much an

expository message, it's more like a topical message.

And when I draw 2 points from this particular passage, but

we'll use other passages to substantiate and perhaps to

bring my point home. So I want you to treat this more

as a topical message. As we begin the year, I felt I

wanted to speak on two things. One on the nature of the church

and then speak around what does that look like, but also what is

our role as a community and as a church as we step into 2026?

So we'll do that for two weeks and then we'll begin our new

series for the year. So I'm hoping just to launch us

into 2026. My brother-in-law is also here

with his wife Tandy today, so they're also here visiting us as

well. So welcome X20 verse 28.

We'll just read verse 28. 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 you

obtained with His own blood. Our gracious Lord, we are so

thankful this morning to to gather this way a people

gathered under your Lordship and under Your Word.

And therefore, Lord, we ask that would you please instruct our

hearts this morning through the preaching of Your Word.

Give us, our Lord, a high view of salvation, but also a high

view of the Church. Help us, Lord, to see its

beauty, but also to see its glory.

We ask this in your name. Amen.

So I want to talk today about the nature of the church, and

I'm reading a passage that is in the book of Acts where chapter

20, verse 28. And for some of us, we may be

familiar with this particular portion of Scripture because we

know this is the famous farewell of the Apostle Paul to the

Ephesians elders. The Apostle Paul is has called

these elders and he's sharing a number of things with them.

Number one is sharing around his ministry, how his ministry 1 was

so difficult because of the plot of the Jews.

But also the Apostle Paul speaks about how he served the Lord

with all humility, but the times how he served the Lord with

tears. Amazingly, as you read Acts

Acts 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20, you also realise that the Apostle Paul here, it

seems as though his life has no value and is someone that is

going to lay down his life because he knows that as he gets

to Jerusalem he is going to be imprisoned.

And so he's willing to lay down that life for the sake of the

gospel. As he instructed his elders.

He says, you know also I gave to you, I proclaimed to you the

whole council of God. It's like guys, I'm leaving,

you're not going to see me again.

I want you to remember I gave to the whole council of God and I'm

going to be imprisoned and I serve the Lord with tears.

And it gives them this part of the instruction to to the

elders. Elders are shepherds, elders are

those who feed, who care, who lead, and it gives this

instruction for them to take care of the flog of God which

the Holy Spirit has made you oversee.

In other words, you did not appoint yourselves.

The Holy Spirit has made you overseer over the people of God.

And then it says, take care of the Church of God.

And the second part, he says, why?

Because he obtained it with his blood.

And he reminds them what why this is so important because

there's others that are going to come from the outside.

As you remind that there will be wolves that are going to come

from the outside and they will lead the people of God astray.

And so he says they will, they will, they will rise up.

And some of those people that will rise up and bring in among

you twisted teachings. He said there are men that will

rise up among you, but I want you to be alert, want you to be

to be watchful. So this is a wonderful farewell

as the apostle Paul shares this with the Ephesians elders.

But there are two things I want us to draw from verse 28.

I'm not so much talking about the leadership aspect of this

passage, which we could do that, but there are two things that

are quite important. In fact, I in 28 B take care of

the church for the Church of God, which he obtained with his

own blood. I want to begin this morning by

answering the question what the church is not, what the church

is not. There are many misconceptions in

our world about what the church is and what the church perhaps

should be like. But I first want to address the

question what the church is not. Number one, I think you'll

probably see on the slide that the church is not the source of

entertainment. We live in a world where there

is danger of amusement, a change, a church that is driven

by appealing to the seeker, A church that focuses on what we

want, what we need and what satisfies us.

A church that is men centered instead of Christ exalting,

gospel centered and Christ centered.

I remember in seminary as I was thinking about this, in seminary

the you do 2 courses in preaching.

You do exported to preaching but you also do what they call first

person preaching. And I remember how I did not

like that course. It was the worst course I ever

did in seminary. The reason for that is because

everything about first person preaching is about the person.

None of it is money about Christ.

You know, you can dress like a clown and all these sort of

things as a way of preaching and do all of the in order to, to

actually to appeal to man. And as you do that, you find

yourself that everything around this sermon is about man is not

about Christ. The church is never to appeal to

the seeker because the church is not a source of entertainment.

Church is meant to be Christ exalting #2 the church is not a

building. The church is not made with

hands. It is not wood, it is not brick,

it is not cement, it is not stone, it is not a building #3

the church is not it's leaders. This is important in our culture

and in our world where we have the founder mentality that I

sort of founded to this church. It is my church.

Saints, be reminded this morning there is only one founder of the

church and his name is Jesus. Every person is not called to

found. The church is called to plant

the church. We are church planters.

The church is instituted by Jesus.

The church is established by Jesus.

The elders are not the CEOs of the church, they are servants of

the church. John Piper would Simply put it

this way. Brothers, we are not

professionals. The church is not its leaders.

God gives His leaders to the church as a gift, to shepherd,

to care, to love, to feed. But the church is not it's

leaders. So #1 the church is not a source

of entertainment. The church is not a building.

Also, the church is not it's leaders.

And therefore then what is the church?

The word church, as you'll probably see in your screen, is

often translated in our Bibles. In the root word there is the

word ecclesia, which refer to a gathering and a community or an

assembly. Now for someone who lived in the

Greco Roman world, they were familiar with this term.

The Greeks were familiar with it because it had nothing special

in those days. And ecclesia would just be a

gathering, an ordinary gathering of the people in that city or in

that town. But the apostle Paul and Jesus

in Matthew 16 seem to use this word also in the New Testament.

Moses uses it to actually speak about an assembly, a gathering,

a quahal, a gathering of the people of God.

For example, in Nehemiah 13 verse one, the word is used as

an Assembly of God, the gathering of God, those who

belong to God. And so we see in Scripture how

it is used. It is used as a gathering of the

people of God. Either they gather in one

location or they gather in multiple locations, or the

people of God generally as a collective are called a church.

And so a church is not simply a building, a church is a people,

a people who gather together. And in essence, the word Church

of an ecclesia actually has the connotation or the meaning of

those that have been taken out of darkness and have been put to

the light, no longer in darkness, but now in light.

It is made-up of true believers who are saved by grace through

faith in Christ Jesus. Morgan defines the Church the

following way. The church is the people of God,

chosen by the Father, graciously bought into a relationship with

the Triune God and one another. Love this definition.

I love the fact that he he mentions the Triune God, that

the work of salvation is the work of the Father, the Son, and

the Holy Spirit, who then bring us into relationship with one

another. That is the church, an assembly,

a gathering, a community of the Spirit people who are rescued

and sanctified by Christ Jesus. The Bible affords us a number of

images of the church, what we call the metaphors or images of

the church. So as you read Scriptures,

you'll find things like the church as an army, the church as

a building, the church as the house, God's household, the

church as a family, the church as a flock of God, the church as

a planted field, wonderful images of the church.

And my favorite one is the church as a family.

Wonderful. We may even add here the church

as the bride of Christ. We may add so.

Notice then the words of Scripture from Luke.

This is the Church of God. I love that phrase.

This is the Church of God. Think about that in relation to

what the church is not that this is the Church of God says.

We have to remind ourselves over and over again that the church

belongs to Jesus, that Jesus is the founder.

Jesus created the church, He called the church, he redeemed

the church and he restored the church.

It is Jesus alone that the church is all about.

He is the centre and the very hero of the church.

It is built by Jesus, for Jesus and on Jesus.

This is important for us to to know that we are not the central

figure of the church. Yes, we have gathered this

morning to sing songs and to be in relationship with one

another, but we ought to be reminded the church is not

ultimately about us. It is about King Jesus.

And we need a high vision of who Jesus is.

The church is about him. It owes its origin, its

formation, and its direction. On Jesus alone, he fulfills his

very purposes in his church. Luke is clear here.

This is the Church of God. It does not belong to the elders

of the church. Church belongs to God.

It doesn't belong to any of us. We are under shepherds.

We are under leaders. But the Great Shepherd is the

very leader of the church. He founded the church, and when

Paul writes to the church at Corinth, I love how he begins in

chapter 1, verse 2. Notice how we rise to the Church

of God in Corinth. It's clear to the Church of God

that is in Corinth because this is the Church of God, a

community that belongs to God, the people of God who are God's

building and who are God's field.

Be reminded this morning that the church is not just any

religious community. The church is is the agent of

God that carries his presence into the world.

The church belongs to Jesus. And as we gather here this

morning, we are the ones that have been adopted into the

family of God, the ones that who are who and who were slaves, but

now have been brought into a relationship with a loving

Jesus. Now we sit here as brothers and

sisters in Christ, rescued by the gospel, transformed by the

by the Spirit. That's who we are gathered here

this morning as those who are loved by Christ, experiencing

his redemptive power in our lives.

Today we stand here as united in Christ, demonstrating a way of

life to the dying world for those who who are part of the

Church of God, leave contrary to the ways of the world.

When a church elevates men, it ceases to be a church.

It becomes a social club church. Let's be reminded.

Continue to lift up your hands to King Jesus as the Saviour and

as the centre and as the founder and the originator of the

Church. It belongs to him to remind

ourselves Arah Justin Martyr, who is a one of the early Church

Fathers, in fact is known as the one of the Patristic Church

Fathers. He writes beautifully about the

transformation in the early church.

Justin writes the following of all.

Would we rejoice in promiscuity but now we embrace only

self-control. Then we practice magical arts,

but now we have dedicated ourselves to the good and

unbegotten God. Then we loved above everything

the means of acquiring money property.

Now we put A to common use what we have and share with everyone

in need. Then we have hated one another

and murdered one another and become custom, and would not

even live under the same roof of those who were not the same

race. Now, after the appearing of

Christ, we eat at the same table, we pray for our enemies,

and we try to persuade those who unjustly hate.

What a wonderful picture of what the gospel brings from the 2nd

century. Those who are here this morning

have encountered this. They have encountered the love

of Jesus. When we encountered the love of

Jesus, it is impossible to remain the same.

The gospel is too powerful for us to remain the same.

The church is a transformed community, clothed with the life

of Christ, renewed by the very Spirit of Christ.

Not yet perfect, but we grow in sanctification.

We grow in Christ. This is the Church of God, but

also .1 B it is also a diverse church.

In First Corinthians 12/13 it says for we were all baptized by

1 Spirit to one form, where the Jews or Gentiles slave or free,

We were all given to 1 Spirit to drink.

Again, if you were to read First Corinthians 12/13 to the people

at Corinth at this time, they would have been shocked by this

in its cultural context and in its broader context.

This has been shocking that the Apostle Paul is speaking about

the Jews and Gentiles being baptized into one body.

This would have been shocking because the Jews and Gentiles

did not get along and it Apostle Paul says now you've all been

given 1 spirit to drink. The Church of God is made-up of

different tongues of different tribes of different nation.

It is multicultural. It is multiracial.

It reflects the very blessedness and the beauty of heaven as I

would be. That's the Church and, and, and,

and then the rite of Revelation saw this, for he writes.

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude.

No one could count from every nation, tribe, and people in

language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches

in their hands. What a beautiful church that is,

displaying the very saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, let's get into the text when the Apostle Paul in Romans

Romans 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16 as his writes to them.

I love how he writes this because he's writing about a

Jewish couple, Priscilla and Aquila, and he writes to the

church. He says this, all the churches

of the Gentiles, they give thanks to them Jewish couple,

but all the Gentile churches are giving thanks about this Jewish

couple. Amazing, because that's the

picture of God. Of bringing people who are

different, who are diverse, who are now brothers and sisters in

Christ, who are a family of God, a church that is welcoming, that

is inclusive, that disciples people to walk in the ways of

the Lord. It is a diverse church.

It is a church that ought to display the very manifold wisdom

of God to this world. That word manifold, it means

multi coloured, it means diversified, a church that is

diverse, that connects people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so let me remind you, we are not similar acquaintances here.

We are a family. That's who we are and we ought

to treat each other like family. Do you know when your kids mess

up, you don't say get out of my house, you're no longer my son,

get out. No, no, they are still your

children. They are still part of your

family. We are family.

And in our family we must also celebrate our differences.

We must celebrate our diversity in a manner in which we live

among one another. And yes, we are different.

And sometimes we tell our difference when we invite in

each other's homes, that there are things that are about

different about us. As we have dinner, there are

things that are different about us.

We tell that, but that's beautiful.

It's that diversity, something beautiful about that.

The last thing I want to highlight here is the Apostle

Paul. Again, I believe Romans is

written by Paul. Other people said it's not.

I believe he did. So I will say this is the

Apostle Paul. He says in verse chapter 16,

verse 13, great Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother who has

been a mother to me also. I love that this is Rufus.

I know this is your mom, buddy, but also this is my mom.

This is my mom. That's how our church should be,

that our young people in this church would find mothers and

fathers in this church, that men and women will find brothers and

sisters in this church. Just same as the language of

Paul that Rufus is now also has been a mother to me.

I'm not Rufus mother, I'm not his biological son, but Rufus

mother is a mother to me also. That's a family.

That's a church that ought to be.

So. This is the Church of God, but

also this is a diverse Church of Paul says.

Now notice the second thing he says there, that this is the

Church of God. Take care of this Church of God.

Notice the second thing he says, he says he obtained it with his

own blood, the church that has been obtained with his own

blood. Now as you can see the first

point, the 1st 28 a relates to leaders.

And so he speaks about how why leaders ought to take care of

the people of God. And then he he lays it down, the

reason the leaders ought to take care of the flock of God.

It's because he bought it with his own blood.

He purchased the church with his own blood.

The Son of Man took our nature in his incarnation.

He lived, he suffered, He died for own sins, but he was

perfect. He had no sin.

He, he purchased that he bought to the church, and the language

of bought is a language of redemption, signifying that

those who were enslaved, those who were in sin, have now been

brought in. They have been purchased by

Christ and now live in freedom in Christ.

In other words, he purchased us and he bought us.

He made us his own, a church filled with redeemed people,

restored people who are bought in by Christ Himself.

And the price to buy us the price to redeem us is very

expensive. Notice that the purchasing price

is His own blood. This is blood, in other words,

that is substitution. Jesus purchases the pledge, the

church with his own blood by dying in our place for our sin

in order to atone for us. He dies on our behalf.

He pays the debt on our behalf. He redeems us from sin, from the

wrath of God, from guilt and shame, from death.

The church is no longer in bondage, no longer slave to sin,

but we have been freed by Christ.

Therefore, church, that is the price of the of the church.

Redemption is costly. Salvation is not cheap.

It is costly. So whenever you speak bad about

the church, whenever you leave a church, any church, and said I

don't want to be part of that church, whenever we attempt to

take the church or salvation for granted, I want to remind you he

bought the church with his own blood.

He died for this. Do not take the church for

granted. The cost is too high.

The Son of Man bled for the Church.

He bought it with his own blood. What does that tell us?

Therefore, the Church belongs to him.

Not only does it belong to Him, He loves it.

He died for the church that He loves.

Christ loves the Church. He loves this gathering of the

Saints who come here together to worship and magnify His name.

Let me also say he loved the Church, even when it's

imperfect. Church believers are under

construction. We are not yet perfect.

There will be betrayal. There will be conflict, there

will be disagreements in all of these things in the House of God

because the church can be mercy. But be reminded, Jesus loves it

that way anyway. He doesn't discard this church

because it's mercy at times. No, he loves the church as is.

So those things we ought to expect.

It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

That one day Colin and I may have may have conflict, we may

disagree. But even when that happens, the

church remains beautiful. The church remains glorious.

Jesus loves the church, therefore we don't speak bad

about her. A low view of the church equals

to a low view of Christ Himself. The church is God's plan to

redeem the world. Church there is no Plan B, the

primary tool for God to carry out His purposes to the world.

It is true the church don't speak bad about her.

Christ loves the bride and one day He will perfect the bride,

but now it is not perfect, but one day he will perfect this

glorious and beautiful bride. A friend of mine who used to

live in Somerset, W As I was telling him about what I'm going

to preach about that, that we ended up having a conversation

and then he said to me, he said this.

I mean he had, he had written it also as part of his article and

then also told me then send it to me.

This is what he writes shown to Toy He says Christians are not

marked by skin colour, or by gender, or by geographical

location, or even, shockingly, by their good behaviour.

Nor are they defined by a particular type of religious

feelings they may have. They are defined in terms of the

God they worship. All other definitions of the

church are open to distortion. We need theology, we need

doctrine, because if we don't have it, something else will

come and in to take it's place and any other defining marks of

the church will move us in the direction of idolatry.

Wow, that's amazing. I said to you, I'm going to

steal that quote because it's so good.

The church is made-up of those who have turned away from idols.

We have now turned to God, no longer enslaved by sin, but

enslaved to the living and the trustworthy God.

Further considerations, perhaps practical considerations.

Let me say this. The church will not be able to

meet all your needs and all your preferences.

It is impossible the the music style might.

You may not even like the music style of this church.

Maybe you don't even like the the preacher today.

It happens because you prefer a different type of style of

preaching. It happens.

That's OK. But can I say the church will

not be able to meet all of your needs and all of your

preferences? And that ought to remind us that

in the 1st place, it is not about us, it's about Jesus.

But let us let's ask the following questions.

I think they'll put it up. So when you, when you, when you

become part of the family and become of a church, you ask

yourself a number of questions. I think you ought to ask

yourself these questions. Is the word of God faithfully

preached week in and week out? Are the sacraments administered?

Are the leaders of the church encouraging a Christ like

character? Is the local church governed by

to the by the word of God? Does it reject all that is

contrary to the word of God? Is Christ the head of that

church? Does it remember the poor?

Is it a community that is shaped and informed by prayer?

That's just my list. Maybe you could add other things

on that list. And if I think a church sticks

all of those boxes, I think you're in a good church.

I would actually attend it, no matter how far that church is

this morning. Here in this church, we have

people who live close to Mamas Bury.

These guys here, they drive all the way to Mamas Bury after the

service and they come here. There are many churches they

could go to around that side, but they choose to be here and

it's far for them. It was quite a drive to there,

but they've chosen to be here and to be part of this church.

I think we ought to ask ourselves this question.

I didn't ask you whether is the vibe of the church OK?

Is the tempo of the song OK? Because it's got nothing to do

with that. But is the Word of God preached?

Are we administering the sacraments?

The sacraments are not the suggestion.

The sacraments are a command. Baptized, take the Lord's

Supper. It is a command.

It is an imperative and all of these things that we've

highlighted here, but ultimately Christ is the head of the

church. What am I saying to us, Oh dear

ones, the church is not optional.

The church is an essential part of the Christian life.

You need the church. I need the church.

We need one another. We need one another.

Perhaps. Then we answer the last question

is why does it exist? Why is the Church even in

existence this morning? The Church exists for the for

God and His glory. It exists to make disciples

where the Word is taught and practice.

It exists to make Him known. It exists for mutual fellowship,

the to observe the ordinances of the sacraments.

It also exists to remember the poor and the vulnerable.

All of these things, they ought to be informed and shaped by

Jesus. And again, you could add other

things there, but ultimately the Church is for God and his glory.

The Christian life is designed to be lived in community.

We are now called to isolate ourselves, but we are called to

be part of a community. The right of Hebrews writes the

following. And let us not, and let us

consider how we may spur one another towards love and good

deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in a habit

of doing, but encouraging one another.

And all the more as you see the day approaching.

That's the Church of God, a gathering community, a

transformed community, a rescued community.

John Wesley would put it this way, that the Bible knows

nothing about solitary religion. The Bible is always talking

about the gathering of God's people.

The Christian faith is communal, it requires support, it requires

growth, and we are never called to exist in isolation.

As we step into 2026, my prayer is that we would have a high

view of the church, knowing fully well that it belongs to

Christ, but also fully knowing that He bought it with his own

blood, that the cost of the church is that it's quite high.

It took the Son of Man to die in our place and for our sin.

May God bless you.