The Story of God: The Church
Matthew
From eternity past God has always been. He’s always been full of joy in beholding His glory as displayed in each person of the Trinity. And this joy moved God to create a universe, a world, and people – so He could display His glory, and share with us the joy of beholding His glory.
So God created the universe, a perfect world, and Adam and Eve, giving them life and bodies and each other. And God promised to guide them and provide for them and satisfy their hearts completely in knowing Him.
But Adam and Eve did what we’ve all done: even though God was perfect goodness and wisdom and heart-satisfaction, and even though they were little creatures before God – they refused to bend the knee before Him. They refused to trust Him. They rebelled against Him. So God withdrew His blessing, and the earth and all of us rightly came under God’s curse – facing God’s punishment forever.
But that’s not the end of the story. God had ordained that all of this happen because this would bring an even greater display of God’s glory – the glory of His love. How? On the Cross. Jesus loved us, and was willing to be punished for our sin; God loved us, and was willing to punish His Son Jesus for our sin. And so, because of the Cross, God can save and forgive a vast multitude that no one can count from every nation, tongue, and tribe.
And so all through the Old Testament God prepared for the coming of Jesus. God let sin spread through the world so we could see how much we need Jesus. God freed
And 2,000 years ago Jesus came: fully God and fully man. He lived among us – showing us the glory of God. He died on the Cross – paying for the guilt of sinners like you and me. God raised Him from the dead – showing that He was and is the Lord, the Messiah. And then He ascended to heaven, and poured out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost, as we saw last week. So the next question is --
What is Jesus doing now? What is Jesus doing between the day of Pentecost in AD 33, and the Second Coming at the end of history? What is Jesus doing today –
To answer that, let’s turn to Matthew 16:13-18. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Matthew
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
There’s lots we could talk about from this passage. But I’m just going to focus on one truth – what it is that Jesus is doing now. We saw it in v.18, where Jesus says “I will build my church.” What Jesus is doing now is building His church.
Now when we hear the word “church” lots of us think of a building, or maybe of a service or a meeting. But that’s not what the word “church” means. The word “church” means a group of people. The word “church” can refer to a individual group of people – like when Paul talks about the church that meets in someone’s house (Col 4:15). And the word “church” can also refer to all of these individual groups in an area – like when Luke talks about the church throughout Judea and Galilee and Samaria (Acts 9:31).
So when Jesus says He will build His church, He’s saying that He’s going to multiply hundreds of thousands of individual churches throughout the world. And that’s exactly what has happened.
In the past Jesus loved His church, gave Himself for His church, purchased the church with His own blood. And in the future Jesus will present to Himself the church as His bride. So what Jesus is doing now is building His church. Since the Day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago Jesus took the church which was in
If Jesus has a list of things to do today, he’s only got one item on that list – build my church. That’s what He’s been doing every day since Pentecost, and that’s what He’s going to do every day until the Second Coming.
So – if what Jesus is doing is building His church, then if we are following Him we will join Him in building His church. But that raises a crucial question: what is Jesus’ church?
I believe that the New Testament gives us nine crucial traits of Jesus’ church. First, Jesus’ church is a group of people who trust Jesus as Savior, Lord, and heart-satisfying Treasure. We just saw that in Matthew 16:18, where Jesus says that He will build His church on a rock – the rock of the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So the church is people who trust Jesus. Trust Jesus!
Second, it’s a group of people who join with other believers to be a church under the authority of God’s Word. Some people think you are part of the church just because you are trusting Jesus, regardless of whether you have joined with other believers. That’s not what Jesus meant by church, as you can read on your own in Matthew 18:17. It’s flesh and blood people who join with other believers to be a church under the authority of God’s Word, as you can read in Eph 2:19-21.
Third, Jesus’ church is a group of people who are led by a team of men called “Elders.” You can see that in Acts 14:23.
Fourth, Jesus’ church is a group of people who practice water-baptism and celebrate communion. Baptism is the way you go public in your commitment to trust Jesus, as you can see in Acts 2:38. And Communion was established by Jesus as a way to remember His death – as you can read in 1Cor 11:24.
Fifth, Jesus’ church is a group of people who practice biblical church discipline. One of the benefits of being part of a church is that we have believers who will lovingly speak into our lives and help us overcome sin. You can see the process for that in Matthew 18:15-17.
Sixth, Jesus’ church is a group of people who gather regularly to encourage each other (Heb
Seventh, Jesus’ church is a group of people who so love each other that they devote their lives to caring for each other. Look at 1Jo 3:16 (p.1022). When Jesus saves us, He pours His love into our hearts. And one result of having His love poured into our hearts is that we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We care about each other; forgive each other; are patient with each other; listen to each other; bear each other’s burdens; strengthen each other – are devoted to each other.
And to see just how devoted – look at 1Jo
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
Church means being part of a group of people who lay their lives down for each other. Now you can’t lay your life down for 150 people – but you can lay down your life for 10. That’s what we’re pursuing in our home groups. Church is a group of people who are that devoted to each other. Who are so close that, as Paul says, they all rejoice when one of them rejoices, and they all weep when one of them weeps.
I first saw a picture of that back when I was in college. Don G. worked for IBM in Santa Barbara, and they decided to transfer him. But part of the reason he said “no” was because he had devoted his life to a group of believers in Santa Barbara. They were more important than his job. So he quit – and God provided another job. That’s laying down your life.
Now don’t misunderstand this. I’m not trying to make you all stay at Mercy Hill. If Jesus calls you to leave, then you must leave. But if we’ve laid down our lives for a group of people, then we won’t just leave because of a job change or because of a squabble. It should take Jesus calling us to leave – because He has called us to lay our lives down for them.
So ask yourself – do you have a group of people to whom you are devoted? It’s not just that you are devoted to Mercy Hill. But it’s that – like for me (and I’m not doing this perfectly) – in my home group I’m seeking to lay my life down for Steve and Kathy Wilson, Gerry and Jan Euley, Zac, John, Orie, Paul and Karen Walton, John and Debie Farris, and Craig and Cathy Charon. Jesus’ church is a group of people who devote their lives to caring for each other.
Eighth, Jesus’ church is a group of people who are devoted to making disciples. You can see that in Mat 28:18-20 (p.835). Too many people think that church means going to meetings -- that if you do that faithfully on Sundays and maybe Wednesdays or Fridays – then you are part of the church. But there’s something crucial lacking: you get to make disciples – bring people to Jesus.
Look at what Jesus says in Mat 28:18-20 –
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Jesus commands each of us to go and make disciples – and this is good news. Because everything Jesus commands us to do, He promises to enable us to do. So Jesus will enable you to make disciples. He will enable you to meet people who don’t know Jesus and help them come to know Jesus. So Jesus’ church encourages every member and trains ever member and helps every member to make disciples. And as a result –
Ninth, Jesus’ church is a group of people who regularly see people coming to know Jesus, and who regularly plant new churches. My basis for saying that is the book of Acts. At the beginning of Acts the church is in Jerusalem. At the end of Acts the church has spread throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Roman Empire. How? Though significant church planters like Paul. But also through every member being devoted to making disciples.
Every church will regularly see people coming to know Jesus, and they will send out teams to plant new churches close by and far away. Now don’t hear this as my desire to pastor a big church. My dream is to send most of you out to plant new home groups, and ultimately to plant new churches. And if in the process I’m left here preaching to 20 people – I’d see that as a big win. Because we will have partnered with Jesus in building His church.
So that’s Jesus’ church. That’s Jesus’ bride. And I’ve got good news. Jesus will build His church. Jesus is building His church. And he calls us to partner with Him. We can have the joy of partnering with Him. Think of how many lives would be healed, and how much Jesus would be glorified, if we can plant dozens of churches throughout the South Bay. If we work together – we can see that happen – because Jesus is building His church here in the South Bay.
So how can we partner with Jesus in building His church? Every church has to figure out how Jesus is calling them to pursue this. So I’m going to share how Jesus has called us. It won’t be the same as Venture or Gateway – but it’s how he’s called us to do this.
First, trust Jesus. It all starts and continues here. You cannot do this by willpower; nor does He want you to. He wants you to come to Him and receive a new heart from Him. So bend your knee before Jesus, receive His forgiveness, receive a fresh outpouring of His Spirit, and submit every part of your life to Him. As you do this – He will so satisfy you that all you will want is Him and His will.
Second, choose a group of people to whom you will be devoted. Here at Mercy Hill that means a home group. A home group is where we most fully pursue and experience church life – so choose a home group. And let Jesus so fill you with His love, that you devote yourself to them – to loving them, helping them, encouraging them.
Paul said that Jesus’ church is like a body, and every member is like a part of the body. Which means that when you become part of His church, part of a home group, it’s like you are an arm being grafted on to a body. But now think of what that means. When your home group gathers, either here on Sunday mornings with the other home groups, or during a weeknight on its own, if you are the arm, and you don’t show up – what happens? The group will be weaker. It will not be as strong.
Now there are times when you will not be able to make it; and Jesus will work those out. But there also times when you could have made it – and your home group is weaker because of it. So do all you can to meet when your home group meets.
Third, pursue the three rhythms. The first rhythm is faith: every day nurture your faith in Jesus: take time to set everything else aside, read God’s Word, pray, and meet Jesus in the pages of Scripture. He will strengthen you, comfort you, guide you, and help you. The second rhythm is community – your home group community: so every day do at least one thing that will encourage or strengthen your home group. Call someone, pray for someone, and help someone. The third rhythm is mission: every day do something to advance the gospel – meet someone who doesn’t know Jesus, pray for your neighborhood, serve someone who doesn’t know Jesus, tell someone about Jesus.
Here’s what we are praying will happen through this. Here’s a picture of our present home groups. As we all live out the three rhythms, and as Jesus builds His church, we will see our groups strengthened, we will see people coming to know Jesus and joining our groups, we will see leaders arise – and each home group will multiply into more home groups.
So here’s the next picture. Wouldn’t that be awesome! And then as we continue this – maybe these home groups up here will be called by Jesus and confirmed by the elders to plant their own church – and we’d help them do that. And then maybe the following year there’d be another church planted – and the next year another church planted – and the next year another church planted.
That would be amazing. But it can happen – because Jesus is building His church.
Questions?