KEEPING THE CHURCH STRONG, GROWING

KEEPING THE CHURCH STRONG, GROWING AND STABLE
PREACH at (Kranuan, Sunday, 5 July 2015, 30 minutes)
PREACH at (Watcharapon, Sunday, 12 July 2015, 45 minutes)Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you today. My wife Ruth, my brother and sister in Christ Kit and Carolyn, and I bring you greetings from our home congregation in Round Rock Texas. Before we came to Thailand, we asked Udorn what messages we should bring from God’s word. One of the things he asked us to talk aboutwas how to make the church strong, how to help it grow, and and how to keep it stable. That’s whatI’ll talk about today.In the Bible, the church, made up of God’s people,is described in several ways
In some places it is compared to a bride
• In (2 Corinthians 11:2) we read “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”
• (Ephesians 5:25) says “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”
• (Revelation 19:7) tells us “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready”
O In other places it is also compared to a body
• (1 Corinthians 12:27) reads “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
• (Romans 12:5) says “…so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
• And in (Ephesians 5:23) “…Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”
O In still other places the church is compared to a house
• (1 Peter 2:5) “…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…”
• (1 Timothy 3:15) “…if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God…”
- In each of these descriptions, the church isintended to…
o
Be beautiful and pleasing in God’s eyes
O Have its members work together and support each other
O Be complete and ready to fulfill its purpose
- To be all these things, the church certainly must be strong, it must grow, and it must be stable
O So how can these things happen?
O What must Christians do to make them so?
O There are many answers to these questions. Today I’ll focus on three
- First, the church must PREACH THE WORD
O Jesus told his disciples to take his message to the whole world
• (Matthew 28:19-20) “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you….”
• (Mark 16:15) “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
O Jesus told his disciples to go, starting where they were
• (Acts 1:8) “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
O His disciples did what he told them to do
• (Acts 8:4) “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
• Paul encouraged Timothy to do the samein (2 Timothy 4:2) “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”
• In (Colossians 1:6) we read “…the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world…”
• (Colossians 1:23) “…This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven…)
O The first century disciples did take the message of Jesus throughout their world, as we just read in Colossians
O God wants the church today to preach the word too
• We have the same responsibility those first-century disciples had to preach the word
• God wants us to take the Gospel throughout our world today
O So what word must we preach?
• We must preach the same message the first century Christians did…the simple,saving message of Jesus
• (John 3:16-17) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
O We must let people know that God’s great love caused him to give us his only son
• (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
• That is the simple Gospel message. Christ came, he died for our sins, and he was raised victorious over sin and death. He offers that same victory to us today.
• That is the message we must offer the world
• (1 Corinthians 1:18) “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
• The message of the cross is powerful
• It offers the power of salvation
- Second, the church must LIVE THE LOVE WE PREACH about
O First, as Christians, we must love each other
• We must imitate Jesus’ example
•
In (John 13), Jesus got down on his knees and washed his disciples’ feet. But the lesson to be learned from this passage is not about literal foot washing
O It was about meeting the needs of others
O It was about humbly putting others first
• Jesus told them “You do not realize what I am doing, but later you will understand.” (v7)
• (Philippians 2:1-8) “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
• As a Christian I must put the needs of others above my own
• (1 John 3:16) “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in thatperson? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
• God tells us We can’t just say “I love you”. We must show our love by laying down our lives as Jesus did. What a challenge that is!
• How do we do that? One way is to share what we have with those in need.
o
Second, we must also love those who don’t know Christ
• Jesus cared deeply for those who didn’t know God
• We read in (Luke 19:41-42) “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”
• We must be a good neighbor to those around us
• (Galatians 6:10) “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
• We must show those who need Jesus what real love is
• (John 13:35) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
• Loving each other is an excellent way to show the world who we are, and the love that Jesus offers
- Third, to keep the church strong, growing and stable, we must be UNITED
O Jesus prayed for Christians to be united
• In (John 17:20-21) “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
• Notice here that Christian unity shows the world that God sent Jesus into the world
O Paul urged unity…unity in Christ alone
• (1 Corinthians 1:10) “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, 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”
• (Ephesians 4:4-6) “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
O We can’t let men divide the church. We must stay united.
• (Romans 16:17) “…watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.”
• Romans tells us that dividing the church is wrong
• We must not be a part of it
• (Colossians 2:20-22) “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.”
• We must be united based on God’s word alone, not on man-made rules
- Fourth, we must live as Christ would have us live. For this last part of my lesson I want to read from Ephesians chapter 4. I’ll read much of the chapter.
O Ephesians 4:1-6 “As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have re

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