Commitment to Community: The Power of Local Church

1) "We are, however, as Christians, called to commit both to Jesus but also to his church. And you have to get personal on this and you have to realize it's more than just a commitment to a universal body. That's like, well, I'm part of the universal church. We've talked about that. We have to commit to a local church. If church is a family and it's a gathering or a called -out assembly, but if church is a family and it's a gathering or a called -out family, it actually requires us to be locally together as much as we possibly can. I'm saying that in the sense of some places in the world you might get, you might be the only one. That's different. So we are called to commit. And that does make it different than a restaurant. And so it's dangerous when we bring that type of thinking into the church." [28:35] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Individualism is incompatible with church and the local church. It is. I think it's killing the local church. I also think it kills individuals. I would, I would, I mean, my suspicion is that that pandemic of loneliness that is, raises the mortality rate by 39 percent. Can you get that? Loneliness raises your mortality rate by 39 percent. Let that sink in. I think individualism is at the core of that, because we were made to be in community. We were made to belong to one another, to belong to God. Nowhere does it talk about other than before we're saved that we belonged to ourselves. After giving our lives to Jesus, we're told that we were bought with a high price. It's very different." [33:23] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "So, how do we combat this? Very quickly. First one is commit your life to Jesus and His church. Might sound like, I've done that already. Commit your whole life. Consider what that cost is. Commit your life to Jesus and His church. What that cost would actually be, right? It's not just, you know, do I come to church or do I believe? Does my life show, does it demonstrate that I'm seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? and then commit yourself to a local church. It's a local family gathering. Ephesians 5 .21 talks about submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters, and so I know I've said this before, and I'm just kind of saying it in different ways and repackaging it, but I'll do it unapologetically because I really feel like individualism is killing us personally and as individuals, shockingly, because it promises personal fulfillment, but it's also killing us within the church." [38:27] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "We need the local church for protection from deception. Now, I know that could raise a question on what if you're in a church where the lampstand has been removed. That's a great question, and it could use a message series or a message at least on its own. This morning, I had to cut literally over half the message off just for sake of time. It just doesn't work sometimes. So we can come back to that at a later date, but I will say it is very important when you're selecting a church that the church teaches from the full counsel of Scripture. So if we start cutting out like, well, things in the Old Testament, that was just written by man. Really, we just need to go to the New Testament, whatever Jesus said in red letters, like that kind of stuff. Well, that kind of teaching is not going to protect you from deception. So we need teaching from the full counsel of Scripture. We really do. Everything in here is profitable and useful for teaching, correction, rebuke, and reproof, right? That's what we're told. And that's what the truth is. So that's one, protection from deception. By engaging in the local church, there is a protection from deception that we receive according to Ephesians." [44:09] (74 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. Let that one sink in. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so that we can help each other. We need each other. Secondly to this, we need more than just the Bible. And sometimes people say, all I need is the Bible. There's that idea that if you just get the Bible, you'll have everything you need. And I hesitate to say it's, you need more than that because it sounds like heresy, but it's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. It's not. The Bible doesn't even say all you need is the Bible. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, 7, Corinthians talks about they had the scriptures, the Old Testament scriptures, and they studied them, and they failed. Jesus said, you search the scriptures to find eternal life, but you fail to realize they point to me, and yet you refuse to come to me. Paul says they had the scriptures, and they missed all the prophetic words because they didn't have God's Spirit." [52:20] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Healthy local churches benefit everyone. Healthy local churches benefit everyone. Now, that I mean for everyone in here. I believe if our church is healthy, that there is a benefit all of us will experience, and that goes for every healthy church in our community. There is a benefit to those inside those churches, and not just talking about inside a building at a particular time, but being inside a building at a particular time. Inside the fellowship, belonging to each other, where you're meeting regularly and doing things like Scripture talks about, there's a benefit. But what I mean by everyone is everyone. healthy local churches benefit everyone inside the church, and they benefit everyone outside of our church that are within, I don't know, I wish I could give you a radius. I actually don't have a radius. It's not like it's a law I found in the Bible. This one actually comes from research." [01:11:02] (57 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "So, with all that to say, we need the church. Now, we're going to end with this point. And I'll be somewhat quick because we're going to sing Who Will Help the Church again. I know, two weeks in a row, bear with me. I love it. I missed the song and it's very appropriate because we're called to be a part of the church. Yes, we are called to be the church, but we are called to help Christ's church. When you see there is a problem in there, we don't just sit back like armchair quarterbacks and say, this is what they should have done. We roll up our sleeves and we get in the muck and we help make it better. And now I know, some of you, you can't serve everywhere. I get that. You help with prayer. Like, pray for your church. If you're committing here, if this is your local place or if you're somewhere else, please pray for the church. Pray for the leaders, pray for the members, pray for the body. We need that. But there's other ways. We give, we serve, we use our gifts, like Paul said, for the common good of those next to us." [01:16:53] (67 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)