WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.240 So, if you're able to, you'll turn back with me to Romans chapter 16, the last chapter 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:07.240 of Romans. 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:09.839 This is the last in our series. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:12.160 We've been preaching in the morning through Romans. 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.080 We've had a couple of breaks. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.199 And this is the last one. 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:21.080 Someone mentioned last night to me that the first one that was preached was Cori's last 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:22.080 Sunday. 00:00:22.080 --> 00:00:29.400 So, that gives you a timeline for when we began it. 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.679 That wasn't yesterday. 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:38.159 So, it's amazing to think we've taken, gone through and I guess you could take a lot longer. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:43.119 This chapter itself could be the theme of many sermons. 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:50.359 But can I begin just with a point of trivia for you this morning? 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:56.599 I've preached from this chapter every six years that I've been here. 00:00:56.599 --> 00:00:57.599 Okay? 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:07.799 I preached it in May 2001, in December 2007, in June 2013 and now for the fourth time in 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:08.799 March 2019. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:18.040 Now, that either means I'm a wester because I'm preaching old sermons or it's important 00:01:18.040 --> 00:01:23.280 and each time it's been a new sermon, which it is in that sense. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:26.359 I haven't just gone back to my old notes. 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.200 And I always think that's significant, isn't it? 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:32.640 Maybe it's a great thing if God grants me another six years, I'll preach it in six years' 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:34.959 time, whatever that might be. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:39.400 But it's a timely reminder to us, isn't it, of being a Christian. 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:41.400 It's a great way to end a series. 00:01:41.400 --> 00:01:50.079 It's a timely reminder of why you being a Christian, why you being part of Sint Seas or whatever 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:54.159 church you belong to, matters to God. 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:58.000 And if you're not a Christian, there's a great challenge there as well, obviously, in the 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:02.399 message and in the need to consider that. 00:02:02.399 --> 00:02:10.639 It's a great reminder of why we matter to each other and why we matter to God. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:16.359 Now last weekend I was in Burghead and I was preaching there for morning and evening and 00:02:16.359 --> 00:02:19.879 supporting a young guy who's there, a church planner. 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:20.879 He's a church worker. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:22.319 He's not yet an ordained minister. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.039 He's studying down here as well. 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:25.039 He's got five kids. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:26.159 His wife works. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:31.439 So we've arranged to go and help support him by preaching every so often. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:36.840 But he's going through a series on Timothy, 1 Timothy, and he wanted the preachers that 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:39.719 are coming when he's not preaching to fit in with that schedule. 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:43.599 So last week I was preaching from 1 Timothy chapter 3. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:49.479 And in verse 15 of that chapter, there's a great description of what the church is. 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:53.479 And I'm going to use that as a framework for looking at this chapter. 00:02:53.479 --> 00:03:00.719 If 1 Timothy 3.15 says, Paul is speaking to Timothy, he says, if I'm delayed and Timothy's 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:06.439 a young church leader, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:10.479 which is the church of the living God and the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.919 So there's three descriptions there of the church. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.039 It's God's household. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:19.560 It's the church of the living God and it's the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:25.000 And I'm going to use these three descriptions to tie in with this chapter here, which is 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:33.159 also speaking about a real church, the church in Rome, and see what the living God, through 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.359 the Holy Spirit, has to say to us. 00:03:35.359 --> 00:03:43.319 So we have a picture here of a great picture of a church, and we're a church. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:47.159 And God's given us this picture. 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:52.239 And the first thing he says is, or the first thing that Paul says in Timothy that we see 00:03:52.239 --> 00:03:54.400 here is that it's God's household. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.079 That's a great description of this chapter that we've read together. 00:03:58.079 --> 00:04:00.439 It's a lovely description. 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:08.400 So there's this description of the church as a family with God as the Father, or to use 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:12.359 another image, Jesus Christ, as the head of the body. 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:13.600 God is the Father. 00:04:13.600 --> 00:04:21.000 And that helps us to understand what the church actually is, is God's household. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:26.639 And it's to be a picture of a household that's led by a God of love. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:32.240 And there's a relationship of love as we fulfill his commands to us. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:36.080 So internally, we see it here in the church. 00:04:36.080 --> 00:04:41.480 This was a church that was a family together, and they were battling together for the gospel 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:47.480 there was different races, different classes, different genders, or two genders. 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:53.080 There was couples, and there was single people, there was families, and you've got a list 00:04:53.080 --> 00:04:55.960 of them there in that chapter that we read together. 00:04:55.960 --> 00:05:01.200 They were going through testing, they were persecuted, there was hard work. 00:05:01.200 --> 00:05:05.200 There was equality and humility and friendship. 00:05:05.200 --> 00:05:10.480 Paul was an apostle, but he regarded some of the older, or at least one of the older women 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:11.920 who were very treated like a mother. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:16.800 So there was this family atmosphere between them, a covenant family. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.600 There was unity, therefore, and diversity. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:24.560 There was people who were united in Christ, but we were all different. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:31.200 And the whole idea of being a household together was very important so that it was structure 00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:36.520 and authority and purpose, but also great love. 00:05:36.520 --> 00:05:39.000 Great love for one another, great looking out for one another. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.560 You know how it should be in a family, and how the ideal family is. 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:48.319 Now I know that sometimes that's not the case with families, but we're looking and considering 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:55.360 what a family in human terms should be under God, but also how that relates to what we 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:56.720 should be as a church. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.439 And I don't apologize for stressing the metaphor of the family. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:06.040 It's a really important metaphor, and it's an increasingly important metaphor as we grow, 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.360 because it's harder to be like a family. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:16.680 We're not an institution first, we're not a business, we're not a club, we're not an 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:17.920 organization. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:23.400 God describes us here as a family and their implications, so that we can greet one another 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:26.640 with the cultural equivalent of a holy kiss. 00:06:26.640 --> 00:06:30.400 Now you can decide what that is. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:38.079 But they had this greeting and they had this family connection with one another, and that 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:44.039 is, they were God's household, and that reflects how we should think of one another, look out 00:06:44.039 --> 00:06:50.399 for one another, care for one another, and recognize the structure of God as Father, 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:51.639 both internally. 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:56.839 But that also had an external element to it as well, not just within themselves, but 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:03.679 if you see in verse 2, they talked about the church in St. Crea, and then in verse 4, it 00:07:03.679 --> 00:07:08.199 talks about the greetings from all the other churches, and then verse 16, it talks about 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:12.959 the greetings that come from other people in other churches, and then in verse 22 and 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:19.479 23, it speaks about different people who bring their greetings from where Paul is writing 00:07:19.479 --> 00:07:22.559 this letter, even the guy who wrote the letter himself. 00:07:22.559 --> 00:07:24.559 Tertius. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:34.480 So they're a God's household, but they have church cousins, and that's important too. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:41.000 This is a model of a proto-presbyterian church, okay, let's not get into ecclesiastical structures, 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:46.439 but in other words, they weren't isolated, they weren't simply inward looking and saying, 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:51.120 it's all about us, and it's just about our own individual church. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:56.840 We already see that there's a communism going on, okay, a small sea. 00:07:56.840 --> 00:08:01.840 There's a communality, there's a desire to help and support and love and pray for one 00:08:01.840 --> 00:08:06.680 another, similar to what we try to do within our denomination, but maybe more specifically 00:08:06.680 --> 00:08:11.759 we see it in the relationships in the links we have with the church plants, and also with 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.560 other churches beyond our denomination in the city. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:21.680 That's why it was so good for me to be able to go up and help Peter in Burghead, because 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:24.360 there's that sense of communality. 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:31.160 There's that link that we have with other churches, both locally and internationally, 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:37.320 with Suraj, with Russell, we'll hear tonight from Rob Krause, who's staying with us, who's 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.759 a church planner in Italy, who you heard, he spoke here probably, I couldn't believe 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:48.200 it when he said four or five years ago, and we have links with him and with his work, 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:53.879 and from Memphis and from the states and from the partnership that we have with churches 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:54.879 there. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:09:01.039 There's this great external sense of being a universal household, if you can call that. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:06.120 We are a house, but we live in a street, okay? 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:12.399 So we are focused on what we're doing, but we don't forget our biblical and Christian 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:14.240 neighbors. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.080 So it's a God's household. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:22.279 It's also the church, to use Paul's second illustration from Timothy, which we can apply 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:25.960 here, it's the church of the living God. 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:32.000 So what you're already beginning to see, it's the church is God's household, and it's 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.960 the church of the living God. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:43.759 So we sometimes talk about our church, my church, and there's truth in that, but the 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:50.519 reality is that when we come together, we have a higher authority and a higher fatherhood 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:59.400 and a higher belonging, and the church is the church of the living God. 00:09:59.399 --> 00:10:05.079 And that's very important because it reminds us that we are a people together, a family 00:10:05.079 --> 00:10:11.639 together, who worship and serve a living God, and who read His living Word, and who seek 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:18.319 to be those who are vibrant and alive spiritually in our lives. 00:10:18.319 --> 00:10:24.079 And we help one another when we're struggling with that, and we all struggle. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:29.480 Isn't that a terrible thing if you come to church and the gathering of God's people and 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:39.440 you come out bruised or broken further, or feeling even more isolated, or uncared for, 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:41.400 or disinterested in? 00:10:41.400 --> 00:10:48.800 It is to be that place of vibrant living and caring concern where we embrace one another 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:55.199 in our needs, and where the strong support, the vulnerable, and the tired are helped by 00:10:55.199 --> 00:11:01.839 the refreshed, and where we come together and recognize the diversity of our experiences 00:11:01.839 --> 00:11:03.120 as we do so. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.240 It's the church of the living God. 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:07.759 We are a living organism. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:14.919 And here in this chapter, Paul speaks about the worship that went on, living worship in 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:18.079 the house, greet also the church in their house. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:20.480 So the church was in different houses. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:26.280 And in verse 25 to 27, it speaks about the importance of mission and reaching out with 00:11:26.280 --> 00:11:30.720 the gospel and the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:40.480 In verse 5, we hear about someone who was the first convert in that church. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:48.800 And so it was a worshipful, vibrant church that was growing with people who were coming 00:11:48.800 --> 00:11:51.080 to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:52.759 They worshiped together in groups. 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:55.399 They worshiped in different homes. 00:11:55.399 --> 00:11:57.840 The church wasn't the building. 00:11:57.840 --> 00:11:59.600 The church was the people. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.879 They proclaimed Jesus in word and indeed. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:05.759 There was a vibrancy about that. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:12.799 And so in our own church, we seek to have that vibrancy of living worship. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:20.720 And that comes from each of us as we are gathered recognizing that we come in a public sense 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:26.399 into the presence of the living God, not by coming through the doors, but with our motives 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:31.960 and with our heart and with our intention to worship together. 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:39.080 And we recognize the model of church together and church divided into our small groups, 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:45.200 into the city groups, just like the church here had many homes that they went to and 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.920 worshiped in. 00:12:46.920 --> 00:12:49.480 And in the city groups, we see them. 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:54.720 We need to see them as important because it's impossible for just big church together. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:13:01.200 And we're not a big church, really, but we're bigger than some other churches, I guess. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:05.160 And when it gets beyond any certain size, it's difficult, isn't it, to be intimate 00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:07.640 and to know people and to be involved with people. 00:13:07.640 --> 00:13:12.480 And it's easy to be anonymous and it's easy not to be involved and not to be part of it. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:18.080 But the city groups, the small church, there's more of a danger there, isn't there? 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.600 There's more of an intimacy. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.160 There's more of a vulnerability. 00:13:21.160 --> 00:13:25.040 But that should also be a good thing. 00:13:25.040 --> 00:13:28.759 Condensed church, church close together in family. 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:34.559 And I think it's important for us to see these city groups as more than just midweek 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:43.120 Bible studies, place of community, a place of small church, of family, accountability, 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:47.080 service, mission, flexibility. 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:51.240 Church of the living God in worship and in mission. 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:52.879 And we seek to be a church. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:57.480 I'll come back to that at the end just about mission and evangelism. 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:03.519 And we see as a church of the living God, it was a place of sacrificial workers. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:12.560 You see this great list of people here in verses 1 to 16, really. 00:14:12.560 --> 00:14:15.680 How many times work is mentioned? 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:23.039 Five different times Paul is greeting different workers, fellow workers, hard workers, those 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:24.879 who worked hard in the Lord. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:30.720 Those who worked very hard, the partners that were involved in this church of the living 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.840 God together, this household of God. 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:39.360 And now the 26, nine of these are women that are mentioned, important, significant women 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:44.600 within the church who were partners with Paul and who were partners with others. 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:49.000 Paul saluted them, saluted the women who were so significant in the church. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.840 And I salute the women in the church. 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:56.879 I've never known a church or a city group that could survive without the significant 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:03.720 involvement and the often undervalued work of women in the church and their leadership, 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:10.440 their informal teaching, their example, their wisdom, their knowledge, their hard work, 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:20.519 their care, their hard work in love, in being loving men and women together as we recognize 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.679 that and children. 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:28.199 So when we speak about hard work, we're not speaking about legalistic service. 00:15:28.199 --> 00:15:34.439 We're not speaking about ticking boxes and showing yourself to be putting in the effort. 00:15:34.439 --> 00:15:38.199 It's the work of love. 00:15:38.199 --> 00:15:40.120 And that is hard work. 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.079 It's hard work loving. 00:15:42.079 --> 00:15:44.480 It's hard work coming alongside those who are in need. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:50.560 It's hard work giving sacrificially of your time and of your energy and of your prayer 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:55.080 life and of your home. 00:15:55.080 --> 00:16:00.200 These are the areas of outworking the commands in love that is hard work. 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:02.960 The church is that living organism. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:09.399 It's the church of the living God and therefore there's that hard work of rooting out the 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:16.399 self-centeredness and the individuality that sometimes gets in the way and the importance 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:24.480 of living individually for Christ which is reflected in the way that we live together 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:27.079 for Christ. 00:16:27.079 --> 00:16:32.039 Sacrificial sanctification is not just that individual thing, you know, becoming more 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:33.039 holy. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.279 I think it's a corporate thing. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:39.839 I think we become more holy as a people together. 00:16:39.839 --> 00:16:41.439 We lift each other up. 00:16:41.439 --> 00:16:44.319 We encourage each other when we're struggling. 00:16:44.319 --> 00:16:51.559 We listen to each other's needs and we are there to be a people together in this work, 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.159 all of us in that same way. 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:56.439 So there's that sense, you know, that famous World War I. 00:16:56.439 --> 00:16:57.439 Sorry. 00:16:57.439 --> 00:17:02.000 That won't get up by anyone sleeping in there. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.000 That's it. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:04.000 That's it. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.640 If you sleep in St. Columbus, that's good. 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:07.720 Yeah, I must remember that one. 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:08.720 Just a quick, a wee nudge. 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:12.599 A wee nudge towards my Madonna Mike and that wakes up everyone. 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:20.640 That famous World War I poster, you'll know it, Lord Kitchener's, Your Country Needs 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:26.400 You, which has been adapted in a million different ways, hasn't it, by all kinds of people. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.240 Well, God's saying that, isn't He? 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.319 God's saying, you know, Your Church Needs You. 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:35.639 Your Church Needs You. 00:17:35.639 --> 00:17:37.399 That's how I've modeled it. 00:17:37.399 --> 00:17:42.480 We're not simply individuals walking in our way to glory, and we're not simply looking 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:49.799 for the perfect body of people to walk alongside with. 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:56.079 Your Church Needs You, needs your love, needs your hard work, your worship and your sense 00:17:56.079 --> 00:18:01.039 of mission together as we support and encourage one another in that. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:03.680 It's Church of the Living God. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:06.240 It's God's household. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:08.839 We see that in this chapter. 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:17.639 We see the different elements of worship and mission and sacrifice and this sense of household 00:18:17.639 --> 00:18:18.639 together. 00:18:18.639 --> 00:18:27.200 But then we also see the third illustration that we get from Timothy, for Paul, letter 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:30.519 to Timothy, which we also see here. 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:32.400 Because it's the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.759 So they've got three really good descriptions of the church, and they're different, aren't 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:36.759 they? 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:38.519 The church is God's household. 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:43.559 That gives us a real personal, intimate kind of illustration, a picture. 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.879 And we've got the recognition that it's the church of the living God. 00:18:46.879 --> 00:18:48.000 It's a vibrant organism. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:50.000 It's not a dead orthodoxy. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.359 It's never be a dull and miserable and rotten place to be. 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:56.079 It's the church of the living God. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:57.440 He is the living God. 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:03.080 We should reflect that in our lives and in our church. 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:06.360 But it's also the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:19:06.360 --> 00:19:09.799 And each of these remind us that God is the center. 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:10.920 It's God's household. 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:13.000 It's the church of the living God. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:14.000 And Christ is the truth. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:15.000 He said, you know, didn't He? 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.440 I am the way, the truth in the life. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.440 So all of it is relational with God. 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:25.680 And all of it is relationship implications with each other as well. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:27.480 So it's the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:30.680 So we all have different ideas, don't we, of what the church is. 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:36.799 I'm sure if we did a survey or whatever here, you would all have, what is the church? 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.799 You would all have different ideas of what the church is. 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:43.960 It's that really oppressive place that made me miserable on a Sunday when I was a kid. 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:46.400 It's the kind of place that's full of legalists. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:47.960 It's full of self-righteousness. 00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:48.960 It's a great place to be. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:49.960 I love it. 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.880 There'll be all kinds of different, we have different images and thoughts of the church. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:59.120 But we must let our understanding of the church be molded by God Himself, shouldn't we? 00:19:59.120 --> 00:20:00.640 Since it's His. 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:05.320 God's household, the church of the living God. 00:20:05.320 --> 00:20:08.200 Holy Spirit must be with us. 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:12.120 Spirit must be with us in our worship and in our lives as we seek to be transformed. 00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:14.600 But it's also the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:20:14.600 --> 00:20:19.400 That means we should be learners. 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.640 In verse 17 he says, I appeal to you brothers, watch out for those who cause divisions and 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:25.960 create obstacles, contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught, that you have been 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:26.960 learning. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:28.060 Avoid them. 00:20:28.060 --> 00:20:34.080 So Paul recognizes that a significant element of church life is learning. 00:20:34.080 --> 00:20:39.640 There could be a big L plate somewhere in the building to remind us of that. 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:41.200 That we are disciples. 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:43.360 We are learners together. 00:20:43.360 --> 00:20:48.360 And he is highlighting here, Paul's highlighting, the dangers of those, and this fits in with 00:20:48.360 --> 00:20:50.840 what we're talking about in the evening, worship. 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:56.919 Those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been 00:20:56.919 --> 00:20:57.919 taught. 00:20:57.919 --> 00:21:03.959 So he's, as in nearly all the New Testament letters, he's highlighting the dangers of 00:21:03.959 --> 00:21:06.679 false teaching and false doctrine. 00:21:06.679 --> 00:21:13.519 And he says that the truth is doctrinal and relational. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.839 The two are in juxtaposition. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.119 It's doctrinal and relational. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:22.099 The truth about Jesus, the doctrine of God is the truth about Jesus that brings us in 00:21:22.099 --> 00:21:26.439 touch with the living God that enables us to recognize that we are part of the household 00:21:26.439 --> 00:21:27.439 of God. 00:21:27.439 --> 00:21:33.959 So that they all come together, knowing Christ, the knowledge of Christ, is foundational to 00:21:33.959 --> 00:21:41.039 our understanding of what the church is, making it unique, because it's the pillar and foundation 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:42.479 of the truth. 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:48.279 So where does the church go wrong? 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:50.160 Where does the church go wrong? 00:21:50.160 --> 00:22:01.400 The church goes wrong when it becomes a follower of any particular truth of the day and generation. 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:04.839 We are guardians of what has been revealed. 00:22:04.839 --> 00:22:09.039 So it's a unique body. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.599 We are to protect what's been revealed. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:19.679 God has revealed Himself in His person and in His Word, and we are guardians of that. 00:22:19.679 --> 00:22:21.279 You are guardians of that. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:27.759 As individuals, and as a body together, we are to help each other to be guardians of 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.439 the... we're the pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:22:30.439 --> 00:22:39.759 The truth of Jesus Christ is the foundation of what we are and of what we are to be in 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:40.759 the world. 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:42.680 That's what keeps us from falling. 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:46.759 That's what keeps us from collapsing. 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:52.559 We find and see that churches that depart from that, from Jesus Christ as the pillar 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:58.480 and foundation of the truth, ultimately collapse because there is... there's no foundation 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.420 there. 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:07.359 I think that's a very significant role for us as individuals and as a church in a society 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.599 whose question very often is, well, what is truth? 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:13.159 Is there such a thing as truth? 00:23:13.159 --> 00:23:15.319 Can you speak about truth? 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:22.959 The church is not to reflect the latest zeitgeist, that is the defining spirit or mood of a particular 00:23:22.959 --> 00:23:27.679 generation and mould everything towards that. 00:23:27.679 --> 00:23:37.399 It's rather to declare what has already been revealed, sensitively, gently, recognizing 00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:45.480 that culture and life change, but declaring God's unchanging revelation because it's ultimate 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.519 truth on which we are founded. 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:53.280 And that must always be the significance of our community. 00:23:53.280 --> 00:23:56.960 It's the glue, it's what binds us together. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:58.360 It's the very core of what we... 00:23:58.360 --> 00:24:07.120 That's why the lectern or the pulpit is central in our architecture because it reflects the 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:12.959 importance of the truth, the word that is declared and that is shared and that is taught 00:24:12.959 --> 00:24:14.239 and that we learn from together. 00:24:14.239 --> 00:24:20.839 We are guardians of that, but we are also to be examples of that. 00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:25.959 Verse 19, Paul says, for you're obedience is known to all so that I rejoice over you, 00:24:25.959 --> 00:24:31.039 but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:37.799 So that truth that we are, we are to be the pillar and foundation of, is not just a declarative 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:44.879 kind of church reality, it's to be part of the example that is our lives, how we respond 00:24:44.879 --> 00:24:53.039 in suffering and in trouble and in darkness and in difficulty, how we love God and love 00:24:53.039 --> 00:25:00.599 one another as the greatest act of obedience, which becomes obviously known to all people. 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:06.919 If we react in an ungodly way, then we're no different from it and our faith isn't making 00:25:06.919 --> 00:25:08.679 any difference, is it? 00:25:08.679 --> 00:25:10.359 But he says if the pillar and... 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:15.559 If we have Christ as the pillar and foundation and when do you need the pillar and foundation? 00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:20.759 It's on a sunny day, not really. 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:25.199 Jesus gave us that illustration, didn't he, at the end of the Sermon and the Mount? 00:25:25.199 --> 00:25:30.079 The foundation didn't matter on the beach too much when it was a sunny day in the warmth 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:34.960 and beauty of the day, it was when the storms came and the rain came and the trouble came 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.839 and the difficulty came. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:44.279 And we will only stand on these days when we know and recognize that Christ is the pillar 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.480 and foundation on which we stand as individuals and as a church. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:56.919 So we're to reflect that truth in our lives, solid, steady, consistent, incarnational, like 00:25:56.919 --> 00:25:59.559 Jesus, grace, being at work. 00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:01.720 It's simple, but it's not easy. 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:04.399 I love that picture there of... 00:26:04.399 --> 00:26:08.359 Which would really be a summary of what it is to be a Christian. 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:14.720 I want you to be wise with things that are good and innocent about what is evil. 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:17.359 That's a great summary, isn't it, of following Jesus? 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:21.839 And you can take that with you anywhere you go, any day you want. 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:25.559 Let's be wise about what's good and know what's good in His Word. 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.359 And let's be innocent about what's evil. 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:34.279 In other words, not be drawn towards it, not become experts in the things that divide 00:26:34.279 --> 00:26:38.079 and separate. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:44.479 So the church of the living God, pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:26:44.479 --> 00:26:47.399 And that's hugely significant. 00:26:47.399 --> 00:26:51.319 There were learners, there were guardians, there were examples, and lastly, they were 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:53.519 living sacrifices. 00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:56.919 Now, I'm moving. 00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:00.080 Okay, so this is very un... 00:27:00.080 --> 00:27:03.440 Any ministry students here don't follow my example, in terms of preaching here. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:08.960 But so I'm moving from 1 Timothy where we had that structure for what the church is, 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:16.320 and we've used that as a scaffold looking at Romans chapter 16 as a picture of the church. 00:27:16.320 --> 00:27:20.320 I want just to finish with the idea again of... 00:27:20.320 --> 00:27:23.400 That takes us back to Romans 12. 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:27.920 That was the verse we read at the beginning for worship, call to worship. 00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:31.519 And remember, it's that pivotal verse in Romans when we've looked... 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:34.840 It's really bringing everything to a conclusion in Romans. 00:27:34.840 --> 00:27:39.960 We looked at the first 11 chapters where meaty, heavy doctrine and theology. 00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:45.480 And there was that, remember, that conjunctive, what was it? 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:49.280 Adverb, therefore. 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:56.279 And it was linking all the deep theology with becoming living sacrifices, and the rest of 00:27:56.279 --> 00:28:01.399 the book that we've looked at has been the practical outworking of that in our lives. 00:28:01.399 --> 00:28:05.960 And that's hugely significant and hugely important. 00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:11.279 And we seek to remember that and recognize that. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:15.480 Romans chapter 12 summarizes everything. 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:20.920 And we do so by being, remembering God's mercies. 00:28:20.920 --> 00:28:24.920 You know, therefore I urge you in the light of God's mercies, and that's looking back 00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:36.279 to the previous 11 chapters, to recognize the importance of living out God's mercies. 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:40.079 And we see it in this chapter and the way they lived. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:44.880 There were people responding to God's mercies by coming to faith, and by putting their faith 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:45.880 in Him. 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:50.720 You see, there's a phrase that comes round 10 times in this chapter. 00:28:50.720 --> 00:28:55.520 It says, in the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord. 00:28:55.520 --> 00:29:00.400 And faith is the core of this church who responded to God's mercies. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:04.720 Faith, unity, baptism, partnership. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:11.520 Your belonging to St. Columba's must be on the basis of being in the Lord. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:18.200 That you know Him, that you know Him as your Lord and Savior, His rescue package, His person, 00:29:18.200 --> 00:29:19.319 His love. 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:23.879 That is the core of what we are. 00:29:23.879 --> 00:29:29.799 Recognizing God's mercies that we've spoken about as we've gone through this book. 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:34.160 And also recognizing the privilege of that in St. Columba's. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.480 You know, verse 25, he speaks about, strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:43.240 of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret from long 00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:46.680 ago, but has now been disclosed and revealed. 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:51.759 We've got a great privilege of seeking to proclaim God. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:29:57.120 In this city center, as a people together, we've got great opportunities through church 00:29:57.120 --> 00:30:02.720 planting to do it, through the relationships we have, through the training future leaders 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:09.000 that we hope to do more of, through developing a church planting movement. 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:17.640 We want you all to be part of that because it's part of responding to God's mercies. 00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:23.759 As is responding to God's mercies in the way this church did here in Rome by recognizing 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:25.559 the importance of people. 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:32.279 Okay, it meant for Patrick a miserable reading because of all the difficult names, but they 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:34.559 were real people. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:39.200 They were people that Paul thought worth mentioning, lots of people. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:45.000 I love that, that this picture of a church is a picture of names, unpronounceable names 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.440 to us, but it's great, isn't it? 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.599 As we recognize God's mercies, we recognize each other. 00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:56.519 It's a great example, encouragement. 00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:01.240 When did you last say thank you to someone or encourage them or build them up? 00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:06.960 Make them, celebrate with them, weep with them, forgive them, example grace to them 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:08.200 and to one another. 00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:10.599 That's what we're called to do. 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:17.319 That's what we're called to do as we recognize God's mercies and as we recognize the importance 00:31:17.319 --> 00:31:24.000 of being living sacrifices and sharing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:28.640 The gospel of Jesus Christ is hard work. 00:31:28.640 --> 00:31:35.920 And I encourage you therefore in the light of God's mercies to be living sacrifices. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:41.759 And I close by asking, making these pleas, to consider the importance of our calling 00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:48.759 here both as individuals and as a people in prayer. 00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:50.759 Okay? 00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:55.080 Now that I've got your attention again. 00:31:55.079 --> 00:32:02.879 In prayer, to be living sacrifices, I'm going to ask you, we only have one hour of corporate 00:32:02.879 --> 00:32:06.879 prayer every fortnight and a Wednesday night. 00:32:06.879 --> 00:32:11.679 And I'm asking you, if you'd be willing to set it aside. 00:32:11.679 --> 00:32:17.879 With all the inconvenience and the sacrifice that's involved in coming into the city center 00:32:17.879 --> 00:32:23.879 on a Wednesday evening at 7.30 once a fortnight, can I just ask you to consider that in the 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:25.200 light of eternity? 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:34.680 And our calling to encourage one another, but to pray to the living God and to pray 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:41.680 to the God whose household we belong to with all the impossibilities we face. 00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:52.880 Sacrifice of prayer, of hard work in relationships and in loving God and loving one another. 00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:57.320 That is never declared in the Bible as being easy. 00:32:57.320 --> 00:33:03.800 And He simply wants us to work hard with the energy and devotion of the Holy Spirit to support 00:33:03.800 --> 00:33:09.760 and help one another, to know who are in need, to know who to rejoice with, to know who to 00:33:09.760 --> 00:33:11.080 weep with. 00:33:11.080 --> 00:33:17.080 And to do that, maybe it seems impossible in a wider church context, at least do that 00:33:17.080 --> 00:33:20.200 within the city group context, where you know people. 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:25.559 And then mission, remember, be living sacrifices when it comes to mission. 00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:27.519 We're guardians of truth. 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:30.319 You've been praying for your friends and colleagues for many years. 00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:33.360 We have the words of eternal life. 00:33:33.360 --> 00:33:37.319 And we believe it's genuine and we believe it's real. 00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:42.000 We're looking at shalom and the breaking of shalom in the evening and on the destructiveness 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.319 of sin, particularly we're looking at this evening. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:48.080 We're only here for a very short time. 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:52.399 Short time we're here, short time we have the opportunity. 00:33:52.399 --> 00:33:58.639 Now, can we pray for boldness to share that gospel with our friends? 00:33:58.639 --> 00:34:01.919 Not next Sunday, but from the Sunday after we have six services. 00:34:01.919 --> 00:34:04.799 Now I know this isn't the be all and end all of evangelism. 00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.840 I know what you do in your own lives is so significant in sharing your faith. 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:10.440 But we're going to do six services. 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.440 We have this slide up here. 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:15.719 Morning and evening, leading up to Easter. 00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:19.599 Two Sundays leading up to Easter and then Easter Sunday itself. 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:25.000 Next Sunday invitations will be available for you to take and to give to the people 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.519 you're praying for and you're witnessing to and you're sharing your faith with. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:36.000 There are going to be services that we are focused particularly on the skeptic. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:38.959 I'm not going to preach to you guys today. 00:34:38.959 --> 00:34:41.599 Thomas and I are not going to preach to you guys the next few weeks. 00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:43.399 We're going to preach to skeptics. 00:34:43.399 --> 00:34:44.799 It's going to be simple. 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.600 It's going to be short. 00:34:46.600 --> 00:34:48.600 It's going to be snappy. 00:34:48.600 --> 00:34:52.720 I don't know about snappy, but it will be simple and short. 00:34:52.720 --> 00:34:58.560 And the idea is that it will be for those who don't know Jesus Christ. 00:34:58.560 --> 00:35:01.440 And we're asking these questions, is Jesus real? 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:03.039 Is Jesus a bigot? 00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:04.039 Is Jesus good? 00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.720 That will be the Sunday morning themes. 00:35:05.720 --> 00:35:07.400 Sunday evening themes will be are you hurting? 00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:08.400 Are you empty? 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:09.400 Are you hopeless? 00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:13.800 Now people will not, unless it's a miracle, they're not coming all six, but they might 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:19.880 come to one, maybe particularly Easter Sunday, but maybe not, maybe leading up to that. 00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:23.360 So we'll have postcards next week to give out. 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:26.600 So please pray about that. 00:35:26.600 --> 00:35:30.080 People can only say no, eh? 00:35:30.080 --> 00:35:33.480 And it's so significant that we introduce them to the living God, not just in our own 00:35:33.480 --> 00:35:39.360 individual lives, but in an easier way sometimes when we do it together, when they see us together 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:40.360 as we worship and pray. 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:48.160 And may in all as it was for Paul, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through 00:35:48.160 --> 00:35:49.160 Jesus Christ. 00:35:49.160 --> 00:35:53.000 It's not a great way to end that the glory is all God's. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:59.200 And may that be the case as we close our study on Romans and think about the importance 00:35:59.200 --> 00:36:04.760 of what church is in the light of what he has, God has revealed through that church, 00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:08.400 through Timothy and through the people of Rome. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:10.440 Let's bow our heads and pray. 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:13.480 Father, God remind us of what we have. 00:36:13.480 --> 00:36:18.800 We know it's so difficult and we know everyone comes to church on a Sunday with their own 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:21.960 burdens, with their own concerns, with their own focus. 00:36:21.960 --> 00:36:26.519 We know that church is really a very small, the actual church being together as a very 00:36:26.519 --> 00:36:30.440 small part of people's lives, an hour here and there. 00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:35.519 And yet we pray that we would all recognize the great significance of it beyond the hour 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:42.320 we are together, the small church in the homes, the love and the companionship and the prayer 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:47.800 and the support and the help and the concern and the joy and the sorrow that we all share 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:54.440 together, that we seek to live out with others and invite others to come and know the Jesus 00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:56.320 who has transformed us. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:00.480 Thank you for this study in Romans and we pray that it would be a huge change to us 00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:02.840 in our lives. 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:07.039 And we pray that continually we would recognize that we are your household and that we are 00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:12.960 part of this living organism pillar and foundation of the truth. 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:19.360 Lord help us in this city to be consistent and to be holy and to be gracious and respectful 00:37:19.360 --> 00:37:23.880 and have a great concern for this lovely city that we live in. 00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:28.440 And we pray that you would give us a burden for the great impossible needs that we see 00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:34.840 and that trouble us and confuses and sometimes make us despair not only in our own country 00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:39.200 and its leadership and in the mess that we are in politically at the moment, socially 00:37:39.200 --> 00:37:44.880 also the increase in violence and knife crime and all the different things that grieve us 00:37:44.880 --> 00:37:45.880 so deeply. 00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:52.400 And also when we think of the atrocities, particularly in Southern Africa and the loss 00:37:52.400 --> 00:38:01.240 of life and the sadness and the brokenness of people in Mozambican and surrounding countries 00:38:01.240 --> 00:38:05.440 with the Cyclone Lord God, we pray that we would not despair. 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:13.960 We pray that we would not just think it's random that we would not be uncaring or insular 00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:19.440 but we would remember our brothers and sisters and remember with sacrificial giving and prayer 00:38:19.440 --> 00:38:26.920 and concern to see your kingdom coming, to see Christ returning, the end of all injustice 00:38:26.920 --> 00:38:34.559 and impurity and loss and darkness and sin and tears and the coming of the new heavens 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:38.679 and the new earth within dwells righteousness. 00:38:38.679 --> 00:38:44.119 Lord we pray that we would know that and experience that and live that for Jesus' sake. 00:38:44.119 --> 00:38:50.119 Amen.