Nehemiah in a unique position to be trusted by King Artaxerxes as his cupbearer.
We have seen King Artaxerxes give permission and a sort of blank check to Nehemiah for the rebuilding of the wall.
Chapter 1, verse 8 says,
For the good hand of God was upon Nehemiah.
We have seen Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem, his observation of the wall,
his report of God's sovereign goodness for the task, and the beginning of the building of the wall.
We have seen the way that the Israelites worked in the face of opposition,
for God had given them a mind to work.
That's chapter 4, verse 6.
And we have seen the work completed, and the surrounding nations afraid
because they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of their God.
Chapter 6, verse 16.
So the wall has now been finished.
But the work is far from over.
The building of the wall was just the very beginning of the work that needed to be done in Israel.
Notice here my careful language.
As I said to you that God brought the news.
That God moved Nehemiah's heart.
That God placed Nehemiah in a unique position.
We've been talking a lot about providence
and the way in which God brings about His purposes.
As I first read chapter 7 this week,
I actually had a mind just to skip over it altogether.
In fact, I spent the week preparing in that way
and looking at chapters 8, 9, and 10
at the spiritual revival that began to come.
But I realized something in my study,
and unfortunately, yesterday morning,
I realized this and had to start all over again.
But it's not that the work began,
that there was a work happening during a period of time,
these 52 days,
and that was the work of rebuilding the wall,
and then things changed.
And now it's the spiritual work.
And you'll hear many people preach
and commentate on this in that way.
There was a physical work,
and then the spiritual work began.
But in fact,
the spiritual work had already begun.
The people had already been moved to work.
Nehemiah had been moved to lead in this way,
not simply for the sake of the building of a wall,
but because of God's glory.
You remember, I've been telling you all along,
the reason Nehemiah was so grieved
is that the state of the nation of Israel
was the visible manifestation of God's goodness,
God's character to His people.
And they were in shambles.
They were languishing in the land.
And Nehemiah wanted God to be seen
as big as God actually is.
Wanted to ascribe to Him
the proper glory that is due Him.
And that is why this work goes on
as it begins.
And we see the people not failing in this.
They falter at some times in chapter 4.
We see them falter.
They think the work's too great for them.
But they don't fail.
Under Nehemiah's leadership,
they continue to build.
And it seems like everything is just right.
Pretty rare in Scripture we get that.
Glimpse of people doing it all right.
And guess what?
In this case,
there's a failure on their part.
I'm going to show you that in chapter 7
and hope that it speaks to your life today.
Join me in a word of prayer
before we read in chapter 7.
Father God, I thank You again for this day
and I thank You for Your Word.
And I pray that this morning
You will bless the preaching of it.
The miracle of this is not that I can get up here
and say words that make any sense.
It's that You, by Your Spirit,
apply them to our hearts.
I need this as much as anyone else this morning.
And so I pray that You will bless the reading
and the preaching of Your Word.
I pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Now, I am not going to read to you
all of chapter 7.
I would encourage you to take a look at it
on your own
when you don't have to properly pronounce
all of these names.
We're going to make a little bit of a jump
and I will go back
and I will recap for you
the section that we skip in our reading.
But let's begin chapter 7, verse 1.
Now, when the wall had been built,
I had set up the doors
and the gatekeepers, the singers,
and the Levites had been appointed.
I gave my brother Hanani
and Hananiah, the governor of the castle,
charge over Jerusalem,
for he was a more faithful
and God-fearing man than many.
And I said to them,
Let not the gates of Jerusalem be open
till the sun is hot.
And while they are still standing guard,
let them shut and bar the doors.
Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
some at their guard posts
and some in front of their own homes.
The city was wide and large,
but the people within it were few
and no houses had been rebuilt.
Then my God put it into my heart
to assemble the nobles and the officials
and the people to be enrolled by genealogy.
And I found the book of the genealogy
of those who came up at the first
and I found written in it.
Jump to verse 73.
So the priests, the Levites,
the gatekeepers, the singers,
some of the people, the temple servants,
and all Israel lived in their towns.
And when the seventh month had come,
the people of Israel were in their towns.
I want to draw your attention to two verses.
And this kind of arrested my attention
as I was really preparing yesterday morning
to give you a little brief summary of chapter 7
so we can move on to chapter 8.
And that's where I was at.
And these two verses caught my attention.
Verse 4 and verse 73.
The city was wide and large,
but the people within it were few
and no houses had been rebuilt.
So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers,
some of the people, the temple servants,
and all Israel lived in their towns.
So what's happening here
is that now the wall has been rebuilt.
No one or very few people
had lived within Jerusalem
because it wasn't a safe place to be
and they were in their country homes.
They were out in the suburbs
living.
And now that the wall has been rebuilt,
the houses still haven't been rebuilt,
and people are back
in their nice suburban places.
That's where they are.
They're in the comfort of their homes.
And what struck me
is that they missed the point altogether.
God's glory is not found in buildings,
but in His people.
And they didn't see that the state of Jerusalem
was the real point.
How is it that the people of God
are thriving?
They did a great work.
They built a wall in 52 days
and they all headed back
to their comfy homes.
They didn't come to occupy the city.
The people of God
living in community
as the people of God.
The same problem existed
a number of years later
as the temple was being rebuilt.
And Haggai,
who prophesied during this time,
chapter 1,
verse 3 and 4,
says,
Then the word of the Lord
came by the hand of Haggai the prophet.
Is it a time for you yourselves
to dwell in your paneled houses
while this house lies in ruins?
And speaking of the temple,
is it the proper time for you
to be living in your nice homes
in the suburbs
while this house lies in ruins?
Now, in this day,
a paneled house
is a very fancy thing.
Sam and I are painting
our dining room right now,
which at one time
was paneled and painted
and painted and painted
and painted
and I'm very frustrated
because it's so hard
to paint a paneled wall
with all the little grooves
and such in it.
But in this time,
it meant that they had lumber.
They had paid the high price
for wood
and they had had it milled
and they had placed it
along the walls
inside their homes.
These were nice homes
that they were dwelling in.
And we find them here
in the same condition.
It's as if they completely
missed the point.
Entirely missed the point
of why they were
to rebuild Jerusalem.
A revival comes.
We're going to see that
beginning next week.
Truth.
The Word of God is open.
They called Ezra
and he begins to read
from the law
and the Spirit of God
comes and gives them conviction
and we see at the end
of this process
8, 9, and 10.
The very beginning
of chapter 11
says,
Now the leaders of the people
lived in Jerusalem
and the rest of the people
cast lots to bring
one out of ten
to live in Jerusalem,
the holy city,
while nine out of ten
remained in their other towns.
And the people blessed
all the men
who willingly offered
to live in Jerusalem.
So recognize
that a revival happens
and what do they begin to do?
They begin to send people
back into Jerusalem
to live and dwell
in a community.
So what does that say
to us?
I've been saying to you
all along
that the parallel here
is that we're building
a spiritual house.
It's not such a far stretch.
I kind of missed it
myself.
I wanted to draw
this comparison
between the building
of a wall
to the building
of a church.
But in fact,
what they were really doing
was building
a community of faith.
Those who were gods
who worshipped Him.
It's the very same thing
we're doing today.
In John chapter 13,
verse 34 and 35,
Jesus says,
A new commandment
I give to you
that you love one another.
Just as I have loved you,
you also are to love
one another.
By this,
all people will know
that you are My disciples
if you have love
for one another.
Now the word used here,
no, Jesus didn't say this
in Greek.
Jesus would have said this
in Hebrew
more than likely.
But the Greek word here for,
excuse me,
the Hebrew word for new
actually means renewed.
So we could read it,
A renewed commandment
I give to you.
A restating of the commandment
found in Leviticus 19.18.
You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.
It's the high calling
of Christians
to love God
and to love people.
The commandments
that are given to us
in this way.
And how is it
that they're going to know
that we're Christians?
By our buildings,
by our signs,
by our radio stations,
by our t-shirts,
by our bumper stickers,
I hope not,
but by our love
for one another.
The Greek word
translated here,
alelus,
one another,
has no singular form.
There's no way
to say this
in the singular,
meaning that it is never used
in reference to me,
but it is always used
in reference to us.
It is the very paradigm word
for community.
That is what we are called to.
I fear there's a form of thinking
in the Christian church
in America
that's very radically independent.
There's a little phrase
that kind of encapsulates it,
although I wouldn't give
all the credit to the phrase,
but you've heard this,
personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.
Found nowhere in the Scriptures.
Now it's true,
we do each have
an individual relationship
with Jesus Christ.
He is my brother.
We are friends.
He is my Lord.
There's a relationship there
between me and Him,
but the more proper way
to speak about it
would be to say
that I have been saved
not to a personal relationship
to Jesus Christ,
but to a community relationship
with Jesus Christ.
We have been saved
in order to be together
for the glory of God.
You cannot miss this point.
It's an axiom.
Everything swings on this
for your Christian living.
Your Christian life
cannot happen
apart from the context
of the church.
Notice the epistles.
All of the letters written,
Paul, Peter, John,
all of their primary concerns
is correcting the community of faith.
They do so doctrinally.
They bring truth.
Praise God for it.
Much of it is commentary,
setting us straight
about our thinking.
But they do so in order
that the community of faith
will live rightly.
Let's take, for example,
1 Corinthians.
Chapters 1-4.
Paul addresses the disunity
that's happening amongst them
because they're dividing
over worldly criteria.
chapter 1, verse 16 and 17.
Do you not know
that you are God's temple
and that God's spirit
dwells in you?
That's not chapter 1.
I don't know what chapter it is.
You can find it.
Verses 16 and 17
of one of those chapters.
I think it's 3.
Do you not know
that you are God's temple
and that God's spirit
dwells in you?
If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy him.
For God's temple is holy
and you,
being the church,
are that temple.
chapter 5,
he addresses concern
for immorality that's happening.
There's, in fact,
a sexual relationship
that's happening.
And he says in verse 2,
let him who has done this
be removed from among you.
Chapter 6,
lawsuits.
There's these lawsuits
happening between Christians.
And in verse 8,
he says,
you yourselves wrong
and defraud
even your own brothers.
Chapter 7-10,
he addresses issues
of Christian liberty.
10-32,
it says,
give no offense
to Jew or to Greek
or the church of God.
Just as I try to please
everyone in everything I do,
not seeking my own advantage
but that of many,
that they may be saved.
The way we live matters.
Chapters 11-14,
the worship practices
of the Corinthian church.
Chapter 14,
verse 23,
he says,
will they not say
that you are out
of your minds?
It's the major concern
of the epistles
as how it is
that we live together
in a community of faith.
Because how we do this,
how we live as a community
of God's saints
will either confirm
the gospel realities
in our life
and attract people
to Christ,
or it will deny
those gospel realities
and repel people
from Him.
This happens
far too much
in the American church.
I can't speak
for the rest of the world.
From my observation,
this happens
far too much.
How will people know
that we are disciples
of Jesus Christ?
By our love
for one another.
How will they see
that our religion
is a farce?
That it is ridiculous?
That it's just a bunch
of rules and laws
that are going to rob
all the temporary fun
of this life?
Because we are just
like them.
Go back to Nehemiah.
Let me sum up for you
really fast
what happens here
in Nehemiah.
It begins with,
starting in verse 6,
a numbering of the
human resources.
The people matter.
The people that were
brought back from exile,
they matter.
They mean something
to the nation of Israel
and therefore
the glory of God.
Verses 6-38,
the laymen are numbered.
Verses 39-42,
the priests are numbered.
Verse 43,
the Levites are numbered.
Verse 44,
the Levitical singers
are numbered.
Verse 45,
the gatekeepers
who more than likely
were also Levites
are numbered.
Verse 46-56,
the temple servants
are numbered.
Verses 57-60,
the descendants
of Solomon's servants
are numbered.
And then we see
a separating
and an excluding
in verses 61-65,
kind of a sorting.
And they exclude
those who were
unable to prove
their descent from Aaron.
Those whose
Levitical line
was not very clear
and clean,
which was a way
that they were
ascribing to the
proper order
of worship
that God had given
to them.
We could draw a parallel
to the way we pick
leadership for our
churches in this regard.
And then verses 66-72,
there's a numbering
of the other resources,
the other things
that are at their
disposal for the
rebuilding and the
goodness of the people.
And that's chapter 7.
You see why at first glance
I might have jumped
right over the top of it.
But the one anotherness
is important
and they were missing it.
A revival came amongst them
and they got it
and they began to get
about that work.
Now let's talk a little bit
about the one another's
of Scripture
I mentioned to you before.
They're in John.
That we are to love
one another.
You know that the New Testament
is full of them?
I have a cheat sheet
right here in front of me.
Highlighted and ready to go.
Listen to some of these.
This is what we're meant
to do together.
Be at peace
with one another.
Love one another.
Be devoted to one another
in brotherly love.
Honor one another
above yourselves.
Live in harmony
with one another.
Stop passing judgment
on one another.
Accept one another.
Instruct one another.
Greet one another
with a holy kiss
which was to say
you're part of our family.
Have equal concern
for one another.
Serve one another
in love.
Carry each other's burdens.
Be patient.
Bearing with one another
in love.
Be kind and compassionate
to one another.
Speak to one another
with psalms, hymns,
and spiritual songs.
Submit to one another.
In humility consider others
better than yourselves.
Bear with each other.
Forgive one another.
Teach one another.
Admonish one another.
Make your love increase
and overflow
for one another.
Encourage one another.
Build each other up.
Spur one another
on toward love
and good deeds.
Confess your sins
to one another.
Pray for one another.
Love one another deeply
from the heart.
Live in harmony
with one another.
Offer hospitality
to one another.
Clothe yourselves
with humility
towards one another.
And once again,
love one another.
These are the things
we're called to
as a faith community.
You may have hoped
that I was at this point
going to just give you
some opinion
of how I think
we ought to be
living together
because it would be
really easy
to weasel your way
out of that.
But thus speaks
the word of the living God.
This is how we're
meant to live together
for our good
and for God's glory.
This requires
a togetherness.
Do you catch
all those things?
I love texting.
I love it.
I don't like the formalities
of conversation.
Having a phone conversation.
I could skip right over
the hellos.
How are you?
I could just get right
to the point.
Texting allows me
to do that.
It's really hard.
I mean,
to a degree,
some of these things
we can accomplish
this way.
But we need to be
together,
face to face,
spending time
in relationship
together
to do these things.
Community
is incredibly
important.
Beloved,
Sunday morning
is not
enough.
Especially
those of you
who come
right when we start
and leave
right when we end.
That's just
consumer Christianity.
You're coming
for the show.
You sit,
you consume,
you leave.
We need you
as much as you
need us.
We need relationship.
We need to spend
time beforehand
drinking coffee
and talking about
our weeks.
We need to spend
time afterward
encouraging one another
with the preaching
of the word
and the singing
of our songs.
Those things
matter.
The service
itself is important.
You know the reason
we don't turn the music
up super,
super,
super loud
and turn off
all the lights
in here?
Because we need
to hear each
other singing
true words.
If you're not
a singer,
start.
I know it's
terrifying.
I have a horrible
singing voice.
I can hear
a key at least.
I think I sing
the right notes.
I think I sing
the right notes.
But it doesn't
matter when you
sing,
think.
The person in
front of me
and the person
next to me
needs to be
encouraged with
the truth of
the gospel.
I will sing.
Find your heart
uniting with the
words coming out
of your mouth.
That's why we do
that.
If you ever
come to a
concert here,
it'll be much
louder.
You won't be able
to hear yourself
think we're going
to turn the music
up so loud.
But there's a
reason we do
it that way.
Across the
nation this
morning,
there are dark
rooms and people
having these little
silent moments
with God.
Stay home if
that's what you
want to do.
We come together
to meet with the
people of God,
to encourage one
another,
to do all these
things that I
just listed off.
life.
It matters.
It's so,
so important.
Other times
during the week,
if you are just
coming on Sunday
morning to
Christ Family
Church,
you're missing
a huge part
of what church
life looks like.
We do something
called community
groups.
Right now they
meet on Wednesdays.
They don't have
to.
There are two
places they meet
right now.
They can meet
in many,
many,
many places.
Community groups
are key and
vital to what
we do.
It lets us get
together and
really start working
these things out
together,
really pressing
into Christian
life together.
It's hugely
important.
Now look,
some of these
people probably
lived in their
fancy homes out
in the suburbs
and they said,
Nehemiah,
we can't come
live in the city.
There aren't
any houses yet.
The houses
haven't even been
built.
So when you get
a whole city built
for us,
we'll come back
and we'll stay.
In the city,
right?
Make sure you
build me a
paneled house
because I've got
a nice paneled
house out where
I'm at right now.
They didn't do
that after
revival came.
Chapter 11,
they went back
and they worked
and they built.
It takes that.
It takes work
to get together.
Just because you
show up to a
small little Bible
study and you
don't get a lot
out of it,
doesn't mean you
shouldn't go again.
It takes work.
You have to
contribute.
It might be a
mess.
It might be a
total shambles.
Maybe you're the
one that needs
to step in and
say,
this is a mess.
How can we
help sort this
out together?
It's very
possible.
It takes
investment to
live the
Christian life
together.
How many of
you have
said,
don't raise
your hands,
please?
I don't
certainly
get anything
out of that.
What did
you put in?
Did you
contribute in
any way
whatsoever
before you
made that
very comment?
I would
guess not.
These things
take work.
It's hard to
get to places,
right?
Parents, I
understand.
I didn't used
to understand.
I get it.
I get it now.
It's hard to get
them up.
Sam was mentioning
this morning that
there's got to be
some spiritual warfare
on a house on
Sunday mornings because
nothing goes well
on Sunday mornings.
Our boys wake up at
a quarter till seven
almost every day.
It's annoying.
We want one day,
a day off.
We sleep in just a
little bit, 7.30,
come on.
But Sunday morning,
we have to wake
them up almost
every Sunday
morning.
They sleep so
well.
Wrestle to get
them here,
right?
It's hard to go to
community group with
kids.
I get that.
It's conveniently
been at our house,
which makes it a
little bit easier
as of late,
right?
But it's challenging
to do that.
We have to work
at these things.
It's very,
very important.
If you're a member
of this church,
let's find a way to
get you involved in
a community group.
Come to me and
talk to me.
What are the
problems?
What are the
things that are
keeping it from
happening?
I understand that
we have distance
issues.
We have health
issues.
Come talk to me.
Let's find a way to
get you involved in
this kind of life.
Let me remind you
that if you're a
member of this
church, you signed
a covenant with
this church, a
commitment to be
together with us.
The preamble says,
having been led by
the Spirit of God to
acknowledge Jesus
Christ as Savior
and Lord, and in
profession of that
faith, I most
solemnly and joyfully
enter into covenant
with Christ's family
church.
And there are seven
statements that
list it off here.
And the second to
the last one says,
to contribute to
the work of the
church with my
talents, time, and
finances.
Are you doing that?
There's probably a
number of people in
this church that
need a dose of
church discipline
because you're not.
You're breaking the
covenant because you
don't give of
yourself.
The closing paragraph
says, I enter into
this covenant together
with Christ's family
church under the
common goal of
obedience to,
glorification of,
and joyful satisfaction
in Jesus Christ
because I believe and
assert with the rest
of the body that we
need one another's
help to do so.
We were created for
community.
You're spiritually
depressed?
Get with the
beloved.
You're struggling to
walk out your faith?
Get with the
beloved.
Don't just go when
you feel strong and
ready to contribute.
Go when you're
hurting.
That is the place you
need to be.
It's with those who
understand what you're
going through and
want to see you be
healthy.
These things matter.
I listened to a
sermon this week
where the guy was
sharing his shock
at some of the
things that are
happening in our
Christian culture.
The way now you
can watch TV on the
web, which is not
really a new thing
because they've been
doing it on TV.
Excuse me.
TV on the web.
Sermons.
Church sermons.
Church services on
the web.
Right?
It's been happening
on TV for a long,
long time.
But he was talking
about this phenomenon
and he said,
you'll never believe
there is a church in
Atlanta where they
project a holographic
image of the pastor
onto the stage.
And I thought,
oh gosh, I know
exactly what he's
talking about.
That is in our
backyard.
And I won't say the
name of the church,
but I think you know
what we're discussing
here.
He was just in shock
about it.
He just couldn't
believe that these
things were happening.
And he brought up
the doctrine of the
incarnation of Jesus
Christ.
And I really,
really appreciated
that and spent a lot
of time thinking
about it this week.
Jesus Christ came,
God sent his son to
the earth in human
form.
He came and he
dwelt amongst us.
Right?
Physically dwelt.
Now I believe that
God did that at the
perfect time in
history.
Right?
Perfectly sent him
right when he needed
to be sent.
Maybe if he had
waited, he could have
been a little more
efficient.
Right?
Could have sent him
during this time.
We could have
simulcasted Jesus all
over the world.
How phenomenal
that would have
been.
Maybe the reason
he didn't send
him at this time
was so that no one
could simulcast him.
So that it was
impossible for some
guy with a web
phone to hold it
up and try to get
him up on the
internet so that
everyone could hear
the man Jesus
Christ speak.
Right?
I think it's
important that we
take that and we
apply that.
That physical
presence is crucial.
Jesus came to
dwell amongst us.
Do we dwell with
each other?
I'm thankful that
you're here this
morning.
I think for a lot
of you, you get
this.
Like many of you
do.
And I would just
encourage you to let
this stiffen your
backbone.
Put a rod of steel in
there and don't bend
from it.
Some of you don't.
I love you and that's
why I'm telling you.
Some of you don't get
it.
Some of you need to
spend time seriously
considering how to
work your week out
so you can be with
the people of God.
How we function
together and how we
live in this community
of faith matters to
the world.
I want people to see
Christ Family Church.
I don't want them to
know us for the style
of music we have or
that we do verse by
verse exposition.
We're a reformed
church.
We're the church that
meets on 60 and you
can't see the building
from the road.
I don't want to be
known for those things.
I want to be known
for our love.
When people ask me
what I do for a living
and I say I pastor a
church and they say
what church do you
pastor and I say
Christ Family Church
I want all over this
community for them to
go ah your people
love each other.
Wouldn't that be nice?
Be nice.
But what a great grace
of God that would be
to us for that to
happen.
Now I have to ask you
the question as we
talk about some of
these technology things
and why it's important
to be together.
Can you use technology?
Is it an amazing tool?
Yes please do.
I told you that I was
listening to a sermon
online that even got
my mind going about
the doctrine of the
incarnation of Jesus
Christ and how it
applies to the way we
do church.
It's a valuable tool.
It's neat.
You ought to get out
there and listen to
sermons.
There are some good
preachers out there.
Don't let them jade
your opinion of me.
There's some very
very good preaching
at your fingertips.
On your cell phone
it's so incredibly cool.
But what is
we have to ask the
question.
What is the difference
between just a mere
fellowship and a church?
Young people
especially you.
As you get out of
going to church
with your parents
and you come away
to college
and you begin to
question everything.
Why can't you just
have a Bible study
on your dorm hall?
Isn't that enough?
Right?
You're encouraging
one another.
You're doing a lot
of these things
that I mentioned.
You're studying the
word.
You're devoting
yourself to it.
You're praying
together.
Those are good
things, right?
Why can it not
just stop at that?
Why do you need
to be part
of a church?
Because there
are some distinct
differences.
Firstly, a church
has qualified
leadership.
It's important.
Qualified leadership.
We saw the separation
that happened
in Nehemiah
chapter 7.
There's the practice
of the ordinances.
Baptism.
The Lord's Supper
which we'll take
here in a moment.
Those are an important
aspect of what a church
does together
which are ultimately
about church discipline.
Something that happens.
I would encourage you
to not practice
church discipline
amongst a fellowship.
Continue to encourage.
Continue to teach.
Do those types of things.
In the church setting
though, we must
call people out
when they're living
in habitual sin.
To our application
today, the third
thing is diversity.
It's a beautiful
thing about this
church.
I have discovered
now that I'm being
quoted for one of the
things that I never
would have wanted
to be quoted for.
But apparently a lot
of the college students
tell each other
as I have told them
numerous times.
If you always hang out
with your idiot friend
you'll always be an idiot.
I put myself in that
category.
If I'm always hanging out
with people that are my age
and sharing my same
experiences, I'll never
grow.
I need people that have
gone before me.
And I need to be
passing information down
to those who are
behind me.
These are important
things for us to be
doing.
Diversity in a church
should happen.
If we are preaching
Christ, Christ draws
men to himself.
And there are going
to be men and women
of different ages
and different colors.
That's an important
thing for us to do.
Now granted, we have
a church in an area
and that area is going
to tend to have a
certain demographic.
But we do not have
a Saddleback Sam.
If you're familiar
with the Purpose
Driven Church.
They had a target
person.
This person looks
like this and we're
going to arrange
everything we do to
get this person to
come to here.
income, likes,
dislikes, all of
those things.
That's who we're
going to go after.
Right?
I love some of the
motivation behind some
of the like fringy
churches.
Right?
But they're wrong.
Biker churches?
We're going to
minister to motorcycle
guys.
No.
We all have a common
demographic that we're
trying to minister to
and that's lost people.
Right?
That's people in need
of grace.
That's who we're
meant to minister to.
Right?
I heard recently that a
girl who had attended
here for a while decided
not to come any longer
because our music time
wasn't charismatic
enough for her.
She grew up in a much
more charismatic church
and she wanted to go
someplace else and
that's okay.
Right?
But what I want you to
see is that we didn't
exclude her from our
meeting because of the
way we do music.
Right?
We didn't do music for
people who really have a
hard time swaying at all.
Right?
That's you guys.
The clapping is like,
right?
Clapping and singing is
tough for our group.
Right?
That's not what we're
trying to accomplish.
We didn't write that
down on our list.
Non-rhythmic people.
It wasn't what we were
looking for.
Right?
You guys want to get
super happy in here?
You go right ahead
and do it.
Right?
We just want to minister
to people who need
grace.
That's what we're
here for.
In Acts chapter 4
we see Peter before
the council.
Jerusalem verses
11 and 12
says,
This Jesus is the
stone that was
projected by you,
the builders,
which has become the
cornerstone.
And there is salvation
in no one else,
for there is no other
name under heaven
given among men
by which we must
be saved.
This is our
Jesus Christ.
The one who draws
men to himself.
And he uses the church
to do that.
This fellowship
of Christian faith.
this community.
So I'd ask you this
morning to examine
your hearts.
Are you playing your
part in this community?
Right?
The analogy is used
that we're a body.
What part of the body
are you?
And is it
dysfunctional?
Is it non-existent?
Does it just not even
show up to some of the
things that it's
necessary at?
Ask God to search
your heart.
Let's pray together.
Amen.