So this is a section about what Christians are called to be and why.
So reading from 1 Peter 1, verse 13.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded,
set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions
of your former ignorance,
but as he who called you is holy,
you also be holy in all of your conduct,
since it's written,
You shall be holy, for I am holy.
And if you call on him as father,
who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,
conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways
inherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world,
but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you,
who through him are believers in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth
for a sincere brotherly love,
love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
since you've been born again,
not of perishable seed,
but of imperishable,
through the living and abiding word of God,
for all flesh is like grass and all its glory,
like the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
So,
put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,
like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk,
that by it you may grow up into salvation,
if indeed you've tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him,
a living stone rejected by men,
but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
so you yourselves,
like living stones,
are being built up as a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood,
to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in scripture,
Behold,
I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone,
chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him
will not be put to shame.
So,
the honour is for you who believe,
but for those who do not believe,
the stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,
and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.
They stumble because they disobey the word,
as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,
that you may proclaim the excellencies of him
who called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light.
Once, you were not a people,
but now you are God's people.
Once, you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.
Beloved,
I urge you as sojourners and exiles
to abstain from the passions of the flesh,
which wage war against your soul.
Keep your conduct amongst the Gentiles honourable,
so that when they speak against you as evildoers,
they may see your good deeds
and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Well, three weeks into this series,
and summary thus far is that
God's church is really precious to him.
And in local expression in church families like ours,
God works out his purpose for the world.
And given those two things,
I think our next question needs to be then,
since church is a foretaste of heaven
and we're seeing how the heavenly church
connects down to where we are here now,
this question needs to be then,
what is our agenda?
If God's church here locally
is so important to him,
then what should we be doing?
What should we be focused on
as a local church family?
God's purpose in his world doesn't change,
but of course,
our culture is constantly changing.
So how is our church to be relevant
and contemporary
in a society which actually thinks
that the church is always the problem
and never the solution?
A society that actually totally now rejects
Christian values
and is very, very quickly trying to
right them out of society
and out of life completely.
And as Matt said in his introduction,
and we didn't collude on this,
but it was a bit scary,
should we be a welfare agency
focused on addressing
sort of key social problems
in our society,
family breakdown,
homelessness,
unemployment,
substance abuse,
and stuff like that?
Well,
many churches are actually on that pathway
and they've got lots of government funding
to help them down that pathway.
Should we be,
think of ourselves
and think of our task
as being a service provider
to our local community?
And that would mean then probably,
as lots of churches do,
that we market our gospel message
and the gospel community,
we market in such a way
as to make it appealing
to our wider society
so we can get them in the door.
So we'll make it appealing
for people to come to Jesus,
make it easy for people
to come to salvation,
make our meetings more entertaining,
more fun,
run programs that people
can easily engage in
because that's what they like to do,
things that make them happy.
In short,
adding,
making it easier for people
to add a bit of spirituality
into their existing lives.
And again,
I think there's quite a few churches around
who have gone down that pathway.
Is our role primarily
to be a God-honoring religious club
in the world
but really separated from it,
certainly not part of it.
So that our existence,
in a sense,
as we get on with being
what we should be,
God's people,
our existence then condemns
everybody else around us,
even if it's a condemnation by silence.
And again,
I could take you to churches
that that's what they think
their role is.
An elite community.
Then,
perhaps closer to home,
still other churches
think their primary role,
their primary thing to do
is evangelism.
That is,
our primary role as church
is to get the gospel message
out to our city,
to the ends of the earth.
And so,
in churches like that,
you'll hear that
week after week,
evangelism is the application
for the teaching.
Evangelism dominates
the weekly programs
as people are encouraged
or pushed into it.
Evangelism dominates
the planning and strategy
of the leaders of the church.
And perhaps,
even,
evangelism
and the amount
of evangelistic activities
you engage in
becomes a measure
of the health
of the church.
So,
there's a whole range
of options.
And I think,
again,
there's a whole range
of confusion
among Christians
when thinking about
the agenda
for local churches.
So,
this morning,
I want to suggest
to you that for Paul,
as he writes in,
and Peter,
as he writes in the New Testament,
it's not an issue
of confusion.
Paul,
I think,
is saying,
again,
like he often says,
right thinking
will end up
producing right practice.
If we know
who we are
as a church,
then we'll know
what to do
as a church.
And I think
it's a fairly
straightforward principle.
Since God's church
is central
to his purposes
in the world,
then it is reasonable
to assume
that God
has set an agenda
for it.
It's not as if
he's just wound
the church up
and then let it loose.
No,
it's precious to him.
He's purposed for it
in and through it.
So,
it's reasonable
that he will set
an agenda for it.
So,
therefore,
go back to the question,
what is our agenda?
How do we be relevant
and contemporary
in 2023
in this hostile culture?
Well,
the answer,
very simply,
is by implementing
God's agenda
for his church.
That's it
at its simplest point.
Not my preferred agenda.
Not the agenda
that our society
would seek
to impose on us.
And sometimes
not even the agenda
of other rapidly growing
and apparently
successful churches.
God has given us
his agenda
and it's summarized,
I'm going to suggest,
in two principles.
One today
and one next week.
The first principle
is this
and it's built into
fantastic pictures
as well as words.
The first principle
is this.
Very simple.
Be who you are.
If you only know
what God's agenda
for this local church is,
at the simplest point
it's be who you are.
The first picture
I'm going to look at
this morning
is the one
from 1 Peter 2.
This picture
of the living temple,
living stones
and the living temple
of the living Lord.
Now,
just to get us
into the picture,
here's how I want
to take you into it.
You see,
nations and individuals
are constantly
making statements
through buildings.
If you look at
the Burj Khalifa,
whatever it is
in Dubai,
tallest building
in the world,
smallest nation
in the world,
it's a statement
and a very impressive
statement
about what a small,
insignificantly small,
but oil rich nation
can do.
Incredible engineering.
Likewise,
wealthy people
build huge architect
designed homes
that are often
just stunningly beautiful.
Sometimes ugly,
but that's a different,
that's a perspective.
Environmentalists,
on the other hand,
build small,
mud brick houses
and so on and so forth.
You get the point.
Well,
I think what Peter's
saying here
in 1 Peter 2
is that God
intends
to make a statement,
a very loud,
bold,
in-your-face statement
through his church.
We saw it last week
in Ephesians 2,
the picture of
the temple
built on the foundations
and the prophets
with Jesus
as a capstone.
We're seeing it again today,
this living stones
in the living temple
of the living Lord.
God's intention
is to make a statement
through his church.
Now,
the question is,
how does this picture
help us
work out
God's agenda?
Well,
it's built around
the idea
of the temple.
See,
in the Old Testament,
the temple
was a visible picture
of God's dwelling place.
It was a visible picture
of how life
as God created it
was meant to be.
That is,
God
at the center
in special relationship
with his worshiping
and obedient people,
a relationship
which was only possible
because God
in his grace
and mercy
had dealt
with their sin
and invited them
to come in
as family members
into his home.
That is the picture
of the temple.
In Jesus,
as we see in this
1 Peter 2,
in Jesus,
that picture
has now become
reality in Jesus
but we also
still enjoy the picture
as it's moderated
to us through Jesus.
The church,
as we saw last week
and you'll notice
that there's a fair bit
of repetition
week after week
but also
stepping forward
and nuancing
because this is
right through Scripture.
This is just not
a single verse
we're looking at.
This is a constant
theme of Scripture
that the church
is a statement
of God's purposes.
What's his purpose?
Primarily,
to reconnect
to his rebellious people
in and through
the death
and resurrection
of Jesus.
His purpose
is to create
a wonderful
new family
of obedient children.
Children who would
honor him
as their loving father.
Children who would
desire above all else
to be like their father.
God's statement
through his church
is to create
a new community,
to be in practice
as a community
demonstrably renewed
from the inside out.
As we see
in some of these verses
that we just read here,
no longer
governed by the old
self-interested,
self-governing,
self-ruling,
self-promoting
attitudes,
but marked
by a new unity
in community
as servants
of Jesus.
marked by
generous
brotherly love
because God
is love.
Marked by
unity
because God
is one.
The church
then is a statement
of the good life
we were created
to enjoy.
And it's through
union with Christ
that we've been
freed
from the empty
way of life,
normal to our world.
That's a very
powerful statement
in verse 18
of chapter 1.
That's what our world
lives in and through.
Generation after
generation
trying the same
old,
tired,
unfilled
views of life.
But we've been
freed from that.
Freed from that
to
a life of worship
and service
of our Lord.
Freed to enjoy
forgiveness
from sin.
Free to enjoy
renewed
relationship
with God.
Free to enjoy
direct
fellowship
with Him
for eternity
as our Father.
And if you look
at chapter 2
verses 1-4,
we're enabled
by God's
Holy Spirit
to grow up
into Christ.
Christ.
In other words,
what started
in us
is slowly
moving to
completion
as God's
Spirit
renovates us
in every detail
from the inside
out
to enjoy
the new life
of freedom
we have in
Christ.
And
we start to move
into practicality
in verses 3
and 4 there.
Not just to enjoy
the new life
in Christ,
but to
overflow
in that new
life with
what's called
here,
offering
spiritual
sacrifices
acceptable
to God
through Jesus
Christ.
What are
those acceptable
sacrifices?
Well,
it's lives
of trust
and faith
and dependency
on the Lord.
It's lives
of service
of our Lord
God
and service
of one another.
It's lives
of love
where we're
committed to
each other
and to
speaking the
truth to
each other
and building
each other
up
and supporting
each other
that's the
life we
were created
to enjoy.
That is
a microcosm
of heaven
as we saw
last week.
That's
what we're
to be about.
And the
church is a
statement of
God's wisdom
and faithfulness.
Again,
we saw that
last week
in Ephesians
verses 9
and 10.
Just listen
to this.
Remember,
this was written
to people
who were
exiles,
essentially
refugees.
It cost
them heaps
to become
Christians.
All the
normal lines
of inheritance,
all the
things that
were important
to Jews
in those
days,
had gone.
No family
name,
no family
inheritance,
no family
home,
no location
to call
their home.
All of that
was gone.
They were
refugees,
exiles.
gods.
And Peter
reminds them
that it's
not all
God.
They've
actually
got
something
far,
far
better.
You are
a chosen
race,
a royal
priesthood,
a holy
nation,
a people
for his
own
possession,
that you
may proclaim
the excellencies
of him who
called you
out of
darkness
into his
marvelous
light.
Hear the
movement
there?
once they
understand who
they are,
then they
easily overflow
into what
they will
naturally do.
They understand
who you are
in Christ,
then you
cannot but
overflow in
proclaiming the
excellencies of
him who
called you
out of
darkness
into his
marvelous
light.
In other
words,
what is the
church's
task,
agenda?
Well,
to overflow
out of
who we
are.
And what
will that
mean?
Understanding
that our
Father is
forgiving
and loving
and generous.
He validates
us.
He's
desirable.
He gives
us security.
And out of
that overflow,
to speak
about God,
that's what it
is to speak
about his
excellencies,
to speak
about God
as he
deserves to
be spoken
about.
Our
merciful,
forgiving,
renewing,
validating
Father.
One
overflows
easily into
the other.
The church
is a
statement of
God's
ongoing
invitation to
become part
of his
community
through
Jesus.
God's
love.
If you go
back to
chapter 1, verse
23,
you've been
born again,
not of
perishable
seed, but
of
imperishable
through the
living and
abiding
word of
God.
Jesus is
the living
and enduring
word of
God who
not only
has called
people into
his house
as his
children, but
he continues
to call
people into
his house
to be his
children in
real space
and time,
in Newcastle
in 2023
and around
the world.
he continually
adds new
living stones
into his
living building.
And how
does that
work?
Well, again,
link what I've
just said,
as we speak
the words
of Jesus,
the life-giving
words of the
evangel, the
gospel, and
as we wrap
them up in
the excellencies
of God who
has called us
out of darkness
into light.
In other
words, as
local churches
like ours,
both speak
the offer
of real
life in
Jesus, fresh
start in
Jesus, in
the gospel,
and also
support that
declaration,
and enhance
that declaration,
chapter 2,
verses 11 and
12, and we'll
come to that
in a sec, by
demonstrating the
life-changing
power of the
gospel to those
who we speak.
Verse 11 and
12, chapter 2,
Beloved, I
urge you as
sojourners and
exiles to
abstain from
the passions of
the flesh which
wage war against
your soul.
Keep your
conduct among
the Gentiles
honorable, so
that when they
speak against
you as
evildeers, they
may see your
good deeds and
glorify God on
the day of
your visitation.
In other
words, unbelievers
are never going
to like
Christianity.
They're always
going to find
something bad to
say about it.
But, says
Peter, make
sure that the
things they say
cannot be about
your behavior as
you live before
them.
Let it be about
Jesus.
So, there's the
two things coming
together.
We speak of the
living, enduring
Jesus, his living
and enduring word
that is able to
call people out of
darkness into light.
That's our words.
And that is wrapped
up and backed up
and supported
and made to
look beautiful
by demonstrably
changed lives.
And again, notice
the movement in
this passage that
we've been looking
at this morning.
Careful thinking
and understanding
of our identity
in and through
Christ overflows
into our church
family at every
point.
love, worship,
service,
obedience,
being who we
are together,
which then
overflows out
of our local
church into
the wider
community.
To say,
come and
experience for
yourself the
one who has
called me out
of darkness
into his
marvelous light.
Come and
experience the
one who
collectively have
called us
together out
of darkness
into his
marvelous light.
overflow,
overflow.
Know who
we are
and we'll
intuitively
know what
to do.
Now that
doesn't fix
all the
details on
a week-to-week
basis,
but I'm just
interested in
the principle
at this stage.
We'll spell
it out a little
bit more in
detail.
I keep saying
that and then
I'm going to
leave it for
Dave Bott to
do when he
comes back.
Sorry, Dave.
So the
question now
then is,
it's a
reflective
question.
What
statement do
we make
as a local
church
practically?
I'm not
asking what
statement do
we make
in theory.
I'm asking
what statement
do we make
practically?
So here's
a few things
that have
tripped churches
up over the
years.
We must
never think,
for example,
that a strong
mission focus
is an
alternative to
demonstrably
Christ-like
relationships,
unity and
costly brotherly
love within a
local church,
our local
church.
We get to
set up
polarities.
I mean,
what hypocrisy
would it be
to tell
unbelievers
about the
joy of
salvation,
the joy of
being adopted
into God's
family,
God's forever
family,
if our
local church
family was
actually
dysfunctional
and toxic?
How does it
go together?
And yet,
so many
churches have
fallen into
that trap.
Flip the
coin and go
to the other
extreme.
We must
never think
that having
a strong
local church
community is
an alternative
to mission,
to proclaiming
the excellencies
of God the
Father and
Lord Jesus.
Again,
you see,
what hypocrisy
it would be
if we said,
well,
look,
we really
understand and
honor God's
salvation in
Christ and
his church.
That would be
hypocrisy if we
said that and
then existed as
a closed
community.
Really,
really happy
with the
Bible teaching
here,
really happy
with the
fellowship and
the society
of our church
family and
really quite
happy to keep
the world
out there.
That can't
be if we
really understand
the connection
from Scripture.
If we really
understand the
excellencies of
him who called
us out of
darkness into
his marvelous
light,
we won't be
able to stop
ourselves
overflowing.
As we speak
to those,
we intersect.
again,
and I've
heard this,
it's been a
few years
since I
heard it,
but I have
heard it
here,
people comment
on this
building looking
old and
tired and
embarrassing.
Was one
coming?
Well,
I say to
you,
well,
that might be
true at one
level.
I don't think
it is,
but everybody's
got their
perspective.
But I would
like to say
this to you,
that we must
never think that
having a
remarkably
beautiful building
will be a
replacement for
having a
remarkably
beautiful
community.
I could
take you to
churches,
get multi-million
dollar buildings
and tin pot
community.
My friends,
it is through
our relationships
in here,
and as they
overflow out
into our
community,
that people
will be
attracted to
the gospel,
not our
buildings.
That's where
our impact
will be.
And yet,
again,
historically,
see,
if you
asked Joe
Blow down
the street,
the church
has been
modeled as
a holy
building,
but the
bloke down
the street
will say,
yeah,
but it's
far from
a holy
community,
isn't it?
We're
sunk
before we
even start.
nor must
we ever
measure our
spiritual
health or
vitality and
maturity as a
local church
by numbers,
by the
structures we
have here,
by the
programs we
have here,
the activities
we promote
and engage
in,
or even,
dare I say,
and the last
time I said
this a few
years ago,
it really
stirred up a
hornet's nest,
so just
listen really
carefully to
what I'm
going to
say now,
nor is it
a measure of
spiritual health
to count the
number of
evangelistic
activities we
have in
any given
year.
Spiritual
health and
vitality is
first and
foremost a
measurement of
being,
being a
radical new
community of
Christ's died
for people.
Now,
don't misunderstand
me again,
being a
radical new
community will
overflow into
all these other
areas of
mission,
and we'll
say more
about that
next week.
And so
it's being
this radical
new community,
having that
sense of who
I am,
it's that
that for me
at least,
anyway,
draws me into
this church
family to
minister and
to be
ministered to.
That's
community.
to teach
and to be
taught
by you.
To be a
contributing
part of the
body rather
than a
demander of
services that
somehow I
think I'm
entitled to
because of my
club membership
here.
All right,
well,
let's move on
to the second
picture then
and come
with me to
one Peter,
no,
what do you
call him?
Timothy,
that's the
other guy.
Having said
that,
I've now
gone and
lost my
place.
Tell me
where
Timothy is
in the
Bible.
This is
embarrassing.
Yeah,
here we go.
I've got it
now.
I've got it.
Sorry.
So
embarrassing.
I have
read my
Bible
occasionally.
1 Timothy
3,
verses 15
and 16.
Another
picture.
Paul's
writing to
Timothy
particularly,
pastoral
epistle,
and he's
given
instructions to
Timothy and
the local
church family
through
Timothy about
the primary
focus of
what they
should be
together as
a church.
verse 15.
Verse 14,
I hope to
come to you
soon,
but I'm
writing these
things to
you so
that if
I'm
delayed,
you may
know how
one ought
to behave
in the
household of
God,
which is
the church
of the
living God,
a pillar
and
buttress
of truth.
Again,
it's a
building
picture,
isn't it?
Paul's
urging these
believers
both to
identify the
foundational
essentials of
God's word
and the
gospel,
and then
urging them
to strive to
have the
whole community
built strongly
and clearly,
that's the
pillars,
on those
foundational
truths.
So,
what does
all that
mean?
Well,
I think it
means a
whole range
of things.
I'm only
going to
touch down
on three
or four
of them.
I think
at least
it means
this,
that
together,
not just
the pastor,
not just
the elders,
not just
the leaders,
but together
we have
a responsibility
to know
the truth
of the
gospel,
to know
the truth
of scripture,
to know
the truth
of God's
purpose
in this
world.
Why?
So that
we together,
again,
not just
the pastor,
not just
the elders,
not just
the leaders,
so that
we together
can identify
and counter
false teaching
and promote
truth.
Together,
we help
one another
measure on
the measures,
measure on
the important,
and avoid
getting
tripped up
by distractions
or
controversies
that are
unhelpful,
that bring
strife and
division
rather than
unity and
Christ-like
character.
And again,
that's a
really easy,
clear statement
of our
agenda.
Again,
you see,
political parties
will push
political agendas,
community
groups,
community groups
will build
hospitals,
clubs will
provide
entertainment
and sporting
facilities,
but a primary
task of the
church is
to support,
defend,
and promote
truth,
the truth of
the gospel,
the truth of
God's word,
as found in
the Bible.
And that's,
my friends,
why teaching
is front and
center and
important in
this local
church.
We must be
word or
Bible focused
as a church
family,
at every level,
not just here
on the Sunday
mornings,
you listen to
me,
but in your
small groups,
in your youth
groups,
in your fresh
groups,
in your homes.
We must be
word focused.
We must be
able to help
one another
through that
word grow
into maturity
in Christ,
well instructed
in what it is
to be like
Christ,
able to
implement the
principles of
scripture and
the principles
of the gospel
into every
season and
circumstance of
life.
So,
given that,
I think,
personally,
I think it's
really sad
that Christians
are so,
dare I say,
careless about
learning God's
word.
Some,
these days,
are even
opposed to
God's word,
saying,
well,
don't teach me
doctrine because
it's boring and
tedious and
unnecessary.
Just let me
sing praises.
but here's
how it works.
It's the
older,
younger thing
that I
stumbled over
last week.
Older
Christians,
it's your
responsibility
and privilege
to be able
to pass
down to the
next generation
that which
you've come
to appreciate
from God's
word.
God's
word.
God's
word.
God's
word.
God's
word.
And sometimes
that traffic
is from the
bottom up.
Sometimes
our young
people come
with a fresh
face to
scripture,
that is,
without all
the baggage
that us
old geezers
have.
And sometimes
they can see
things in
God's word
that we've
become blind
to.
And so that
can work
from the
bottom up.
And it
does,
and it
has in
my life,
often.
Young
people,
don't be
content just
to drift
in respect
to God's
word.
You're part
of something
that's really
nice here,
but that
something that
you're part
of has
been fought
for over
many years.
There have
been those
who've stood
against opposition
to it and
have held
the course.
Your job
as the next
generation is
to identify
what those
things are
and decide
what things
as you seek
to apply the
gospel in your
generation going
forward where
you can be
flexible and
where you
need to be
inflexible.
And you
need to do
that on the
basis of
knowing God's
word.
You can only
do that on
the basis
of knowing
God's
word.
And what
we'll find
is that as
we are more
and more
clear in our
understanding of
God's word in
here, in this
local church
family where we
get a safe
environment to
learn it,
then I think
when we overflow
into the wider
community, we'll
have more and
more confidence
and conviction
to stand our
ground and
know where to
stand our
ground and
know how to
stand our
ground.
In a sense, it's
like an ordinary
biological family.
You learn how to
relate in the
safety, in
inverted commas,
of your local
family, your
immediate biological
family, and
that's what then
equips you for
going out into
the wider world.
And just in
passing, I'll say
look, it's God's
truth we're to
defend and
pass on.
The truth is
not ours to
change in our
generation.
We're not free
to say, well,
okay, this will
be acceptable to
society, this
won't be, so
we'll go with
this.
We're not able
to say, well,
look, I'd
prefer to teach
this rather than
that.
It makes more
sense to try and
ease people into
it by being
entertaining.
Well, that's
fine, providing
we're not, you
know, not getting
the sharp edges of
the gospel, so
it's not even
recognizable.
I also say, then,
that being word
focused is not
sermon focused.
That's a big thing
for our church, I
think.
Sometimes we equate
the two, and
they're not the
same.
Now, obviously,
what I'm doing
here, teaching, is
I think a really
valuable aspect of
being in God's
church family.
but a sermon
of itself will
not bring us
to maturity.
I've never
thought that, never
will think that.
Being word
focused is not
being sermon
focused.
We need to
instruct each
other in the
word at every
point in our
church family
life.
Being word
centered will
show as we
move into this
period of
significant change
for our church
family.
I'm starting
to move on
after 23 years
here.
That's a big
change.
The next
generation steps
in.
We will show
how word
focused we are
as we move
into that period
of change, the
way we handle
it emotionally,
the way we,
again, look to
see what's
flexible, what
can be changed
if we move
forward for a
new generation
and what needs
to stay the
same.
And being
word centered,
my friends,
will happen in
private, in
families, specific
circumstances of
life, including
our dealing
with sin.
That's when we'll
see how word
focused we are.
Dealing with
conflict, that
shows how word
focused we are.
So often we put
the gloves on and
the Bible away.
being word
centered means
governing all of
church life by
God's word.
It means that
every decision,
every direction,
every program,
every activity
in our church
family is to be
formed in the
light of God's
word.
Friends, the
principle is
relatively simple.
Be who you
are.
need to
understand,
therefore, who
you are.
And you need to
understand the
connection that
when you truly
understand who
you are, you
will overflow
into mission
as you cannot
but declare the
excellencies of
him who called
you out of
darkness into his
marvelous way.
Next week, as I
say, I'll spend a
bit of time on the
second principle.
But let me just
conclude with this.
Sometimes, well,
not sometimes,
regularly, I'm
accused of being
Eeyore, always
seeing the
negative.
I just want to
finish by a
word of
encouragement.
I am so, so
thankful every
single week that
so many in this
church, in this
local church
family, really
are concerned to
implement God's
agenda, really
are concerned to
discover God's
agenda.
For my role as
an elder, leader,
pastor, he's so
delightful.
In Hebrews,
Christians are
encouraged to make
the joy of
leaders by being
cooperative, by
setting the lead
yourselves in terms
of pursuing
Christlikeness.
I'm so thankful
for what we have
here as a church
family.
But it's never
guaranteed unless
every one of us
buy into it and
buy into the
process that has
brought us here
and buy into the
process of God's
living, enduring
word that will
keep us here for
the next
umpteen years.
Of course, there's
always room for
improvement in me
and in you, but I
think we should be
excited and
thankful and all
the more
determined,
therefore, to
grow up into
Christ even
further, saying
this has been
such a good
thing the Lord
has given us
and make sure
that it's there
in its completeness
and in its
development for the
next generations.
Let me pray.
Lord, so often
we make things
really complicated.
We think that
your agenda would
have us doing all
sorts of programs,
all sorts of bits
and pieces, and we
forget the basics,
Lord, of being who
we are.
Help us, Lord, to be
people who are
marked by holiness,
unity, and brotherly
love.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.
One more sentence.
I deliberately did it
this way.
One of the things I
delight in most
over the years
here has been
to notice how
visitors coming in
and spending an
hour, an hour and a
half among us,
the first sense
of response
I get to them
is that they've
got a really strong
sense of who we
are in community.
They speak of
warmness,
warmness and
welcome,
and the focus
on God's word.
And they pick up
that sense of
who we are
before they start
thinking about
what we do.
And I think that's
just brilliant.
Thank you.