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Find the Lost, Build the Body, Change the World

Discover the true meaning of the Church as a gathering of faithful followers, united in love, fellowship, and service. Let's overcome our image problems and redefine what it means to be Christian.

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Find the Lost, Build the Body, Change the World

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  1. Find the Lost, Build the Body, Change the World Bodybuilders

  2. church • noun • 1. a building for public Christian worship

  3. church –noun 2. public worship of God or a religious service in such a building

  4. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?…God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” 1 Cor. 3:16-17 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” 1 Cor. 6:19

  5. Christianity • You are the Christian • You together are Christianity • Christianity and the Church should be synonyms in our vocabulary! • Not a building, not a place, but a gathering of faithful followers, called the “body.” Eph. 4:12, 1 Co. 12:12, 27 • If you had to describe the body of Christ today, how would you describe it?

  6. The Church is unique !!! • 1 Peter 2 • 9) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. • 10) Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

  7. Image Problem? • Antihomosexual (91%) • Judgmental (87%) • Hypocritical (85%) • Too Political (75%) • Sheltered (72%) • Too focused on GETTING converts (70%) • “We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than Who we are for.” D. Kinnaman, unChristian; p. 26

  8. Image Problem! • “One outsider put it this way: “Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.” unChristian, p. 26 • “Only a small percentage of outsiders strongly believe that the labels “respect, love, hope, trust” describe Christianity.” unChristian, p. 27

  9. The Church is a Body • The perfect analogy • Eph. 4:12 - to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up • 1 Co. 12:12 - Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ • 1 Co. 12:27 - Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. • “…every part of the body is to function and is to be ready for the Master’s use, and always to be usable.” Martyn-Lloyd Jones, Revival, p. 8

  10. The Church is Community • We are to be body builders!

  11. The Church is Community • Body Building • Eph. 4:12 – “so that the body of Christ may be built up” • Our bodies run on food, oxygen, and water. The body of Christ runs on LOVE! • Eph. 4:16 – “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows andbuilds itself up in LOVE, as each part does its work.”

  12. The Church is Community • Community is concentrated love • 1 Pet. 3:8 - Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. • 1 Pet. 4:8 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins • John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

  13. Concentrated Love • Eph. 4:2 - Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. • 1 Thes. 3:12 – May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you • Col. 3:14 - And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity • Our LOVE is to be our defining mark just as it was God’s. (John 13:34-35, 1 John 4:9)

  14. Church is Fellowship • Ps. 133:1 - How good and pleasant it is    when God’s people live together in unity! • Heb. 10:24-25 - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another • “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of joy and strength to the believer.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 19

  15. Church is Unity • 1 Co. 1:10- I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought • 1 Pet. 3:8 - Finally, all of you, be like-minded… • Eph 4:2b- Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace

  16. Church is Service • Gal. 6:2 - Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. • Gal. 5:13 - For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another • John 13:14 -- If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you

  17. Church is so much MORE than 1 hour on Sunday!! • “What an utter denial it is of the whole New Testament, this foolish suggestion that one service a Sunday is enough, one that takes place at nine o’clock in the morning, to get rid of it, as it were, in order that you can then really go and enjoy yourselves and have real happiness in looking at the television or in rushing to the seaside or in playing golf!” Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Joy Unspeakable, p. 102

  18. So what does a church that does all of this look like? • They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

  19. So what does a church that does all of this look like? • ~ Acts 4:32-35 “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was soldand laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

  20. Church has a mission • Twofold Mission (Matt. 28:18-20) • Make disciples • Teach them to obey • Is this something we can do by meeting once a Sunday?

  21. Church is the Power of God

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