Embracing Holiness and Unity in the Church

 

Summary

In today's gathering, we delved into the essence of what the church truly is and why it holds such significance in our lives. The church is not merely a building or a place to fulfill personal preferences; it is a community of believers united as one body in Christ. This unity calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as an act of worship and gratitude for His immense love and grace. Our focus should not be on our happiness but on our holiness, understanding that God's priority is our spiritual growth and sanctification.

When we view the church through the lens of self-sacrifice and holiness, our perspective shifts from a consumer mindset to one of service and mission. The church becomes a place to learn, heal, and recharge, equipping us to spread the gospel and serve others. It is crucial to recognize the distinction between the universal Church, encompassing all believers worldwide, and the local church, which is our immediate community of faith. Both play vital roles in our spiritual journey, providing accountability, teaching, and opportunities for service.

As members of the church, we are called to trust our leaders, protect the unity of the congregation, share in the church's responsibilities, serve in ministry, and support the church through faithful attendance and giving. Our commitment to these principles ensures that the church remains a vibrant and effective witness to the world.

Key Takeaways:

- Living Sacrifice and Holiness: Our relationship with God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices, focusing on holiness rather than personal happiness. This perspective transforms how we engage with the church, shifting from a consumer mindset to one of service and mission. [05:00]

- Unity in Diversity: The church is a diverse body of believers united in Christ. This unity requires us to embrace our differences and work together to fulfill the Great Commission, encouraging and holding each other accountable in our spiritual walk. [12:00]

- Role of the Local Church: The local church is essential for accountability, teaching, and community. It is a place where we can be held accountable, learn sound doctrine, and serve alongside fellow believers, contributing to the church's mission and growth. [20:00]

- Expectations of Church Members: As members, we are expected to trust our leaders, protect the church's unity, share in its responsibilities, serve in ministry, and support the church through regular attendance and giving. These commitments ensure the church's health and effectiveness. [40:00]

- Church Discipline and Accountability: Church discipline is a necessary aspect of maintaining the church's integrity and spiritual health. It involves addressing sin within the congregation with love and authority, ensuring that members are living in accordance with biblical teachings. [51:16]

Youtube Chapters:

[00:00] - Welcome
[05:00] - Living Sacrifice and Holiness
[12:00] - Unity in Diversity
[20:00] - Role of the Local Church
[25:00] - Big C and Little c Church
[30:00] - Trust and Accountability
[34:27] - Qualifications of Elders
[40:00] - Expectations of Church Members
[45:00] - Serving in Ministry
[51:16] - Church Discipline and Accountability
[55:00] - Supporting the Ministry
[01:00:00] - Call to Commitment
[01:05:00] - Closing Prayer

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Romans 12:1-5
- 1 Timothy 3:1-7
- Titus 1:5-9

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Observation Questions:

1. According to Romans 12:1, what does Paul urge believers to do as an act of worship, and how does this relate to the concept of living sacrifices? [12:00]

2. In 1 Timothy 3:1-7, what are some of the qualifications listed for someone aspiring to be an elder or overseer in the church? [34:27]

3. How does the sermon describe the difference between the "big C" Church and the "little c" church? [20:00]

4. What role does church discipline play in maintaining the integrity and spiritual health of the church, according to the sermon? [51:16]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does viewing oneself as a living sacrifice change a believer's perspective on their role within the church community? [12:00]

2. Why is it important for church leaders to meet the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy 3, and how does this impact the congregation's trust in their leadership? [34:27]

3. What are the potential consequences of approaching church with a consumer mindset rather than one of service and mission? [12:00]

4. How does the concept of church discipline, as discussed in the sermon, align with the teachings in Titus 1:5-9? [51:16]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on your current involvement in your local church. Are there areas where you might be approaching church with a consumer mindset? How can you shift towards a mindset of service and mission? [12:00]

2. Consider the qualifications for church leaders in 1 Timothy 3. How can you support and pray for your church leaders to uphold these standards? [34:27]

3. Think about the concept of living as a holy sacrifice. What specific steps can you take this week to prioritize holiness over personal happiness in your daily life? [12:00]

4. How can you actively contribute to the unity and accountability within your church community? Are there specific actions you can take to protect the church's unity? [20:00]

5. Church discipline is a sensitive topic. How can you approach situations that require discipline with love and authority, as suggested in the sermon? [51:16]

6. Identify one way you can serve in your local church this month. What specific ministry or area can you contribute to, and how will you take the first step? [45:00]

7. Reflect on the sermon’s emphasis on supporting the church through faithful attendance and giving. What changes can you make to ensure you are consistently supporting your church community? [40:00]

Devotional

Day 1: Living as a Holy Sacrifice
Our relationship with God calls us to present ourselves as living sacrifices, focusing on holiness rather than personal happiness. This perspective transforms how we engage with the church, shifting from a consumer mindset to one of service and mission. When we view our lives as offerings to God, we begin to prioritize spiritual growth and sanctification over temporary pleasures. This shift in focus allows us to see the church not as a place to fulfill personal preferences but as a community where we can grow in holiness and serve others. [05:00]

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV): "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself prioritizing personal happiness over holiness? How can you begin to shift your focus towards living as a holy sacrifice today?


Day 2: Embracing Unity in Diversity
The church is a diverse body of believers united in Christ. This unity requires us to embrace our differences and work together to fulfill the Great Commission, encouraging and holding each other accountable in our spiritual walk. By recognizing the beauty in our diversity, we can learn from one another and grow stronger as a community. This unity in diversity is essential for the church to be an effective witness to the world, demonstrating the love and grace of Christ to all people. [12:00]

1 Corinthians 12:12-14 (ESV): "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many."

Reflection: Think of someone in your church community who is different from you. How can you reach out to them this week to learn from their perspective and strengthen the unity of your church?


Day 3: The Vital Role of the Local Church
The local church is essential for accountability, teaching, and community. It is a place where we can be held accountable, learn sound doctrine, and serve alongside fellow believers, contributing to the church's mission and growth. By actively participating in the life of the local church, we are equipped to spread the gospel and serve others, fulfilling our role in the body of Christ. The local church provides a supportive environment where we can grow in our faith and be encouraged by the fellowship of other believers. [20:00]

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Reflection: How can you become more involved in your local church this week, either through attending a service, joining a small group, or volunteering in a ministry?


Day 4: Expectations of Church Members
As members of the church, we are expected to trust our leaders, protect the church's unity, share in its responsibilities, serve in ministry, and support the church through regular attendance and giving. These commitments ensure the church's health and effectiveness. By fulfilling these expectations, we contribute to the church's mission and help create a vibrant and supportive community for all members. Our active participation in the life of the church demonstrates our commitment to Christ and His body. [40:00]

Ephesians 4:11-13 (ESV): "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."

Reflection: Reflect on your current involvement in your church. Are there areas where you can increase your commitment, such as serving in a ministry or supporting the church financially?


Day 5: Church Discipline and Accountability
Church discipline is a necessary aspect of maintaining the church's integrity and spiritual health. It involves addressing sin within the congregation with love and authority, ensuring that members are living in accordance with biblical teachings. By practicing church discipline, we help protect the unity and purity of the church, allowing it to be a faithful witness to the world. Accountability within the church community encourages spiritual growth and helps members stay on the path of righteousness. [51:16]

Galatians 6:1-2 (ESV): "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

Reflection: Is there someone in your church community who may need gentle correction or encouragement? How can you approach them with love and humility to help them grow in their faith?

Quotes



I am excited this morning to be bringing this portion of the new members class this is one of those portions of this I think anytime you read God's word it's going to be fruitful for you if you listen I think God will will give us verses that we've read for a ton of times before and sometimes reading helps hit us with something new just depending on where we're at in our life um so even even if you're like you're like yeah I'm not going to be a member or whatever I think uh this will be fruitful for you especially this section that we're in this morning and we're going to be in uh the scripture from our scripture reading this morning so if you want to park there for a while that's kind of where we're going to be then we'll jump into some other stuff um but we're going to talk about this morning is really what is the church and why it matters so we're we're doing the kdsc thing and it's kingdom discipleship society and church and um we're we're talking through that as far as uh what it means to be a member of our church and so to understand really what the church is and why it matters is really really important um this morning's scripture reading was from paul's letter to the church at rome and in the section uh dylan read us paul starts by pleading with the reader to give all of themselves over to christ including their physical bodies and he's saying present yourself as a living and a holy sacrifice to god in recognition of all that he has done for you and do this as an act of worship to him okay so not the way to earn his love or earn his forgiveness of your sins but rather as a response for what he has done for you and this is key to understanding the rest of the verse and indeed the rest of what we're going to talk about this morning because having a correct understanding of your position in this world and in relation to god changes the way that you'll view your relationship with his bride which is the church uh if your view of your position in this world is that you and your happiness and your mental well -being are god's utmost priority then you'll tend to see the church as a place that's purposes to build you up and make you feel good about the things that you live your expectation of church becomes very you -centered and you'll start thinking like the chairs have to be set up the way i like it the music has to be the way that i like it and the church has to offer the programs that i like and and the children's ministry has to be just the way that i like it it becomes very you -centered and then the preaching has to be on topics that you want us to preach about and certainly not on the things that you don't want to hear about but if your view of your position in this world is that you uh and your life and your body are a living sacrifice to god that you are to in all things try to be holy before the lord as a response that is great work in your life if you understand that not your happiness but your holiness this is understand this god is more concerned with your holiness than your happiness like you understand that not your happiness but your holiness is god's utmost utmost priority in your life then again you'll tend to see the church and what the church is intended for very differently you'll start to see uh the church as instead of like being concerned about whether or not the music is your style or again if the chairs are set up the way you like or if they have all the programs you like or or even for me one of my things is i don't like men's group because they made of pennies and i'm tired of pennies right that's that's my own personal preference now i can't get to it on thursday nights anyway because now i like i have to do my mentorship but before that i could not i could have been in a men's group i should have been in this group i'm calling a gayly men's group um and i didn't go right yeah amen see thank you just as a side note can we as a church start normalizing but i feel but will tell you um that as as your own pastors uh we thrive on you guys giving us some feedback and so if you are on a man or even a shut up something i don't know whether we're going the right direction or not so so give us an amen if you agree and if you don't amen anyway but again rather than being concerned with how the chairs are whether the music is perfect listen the music this morning was not great and it was a 90s fault and it wasn't some high spot and it wasn't even yet owen's fault like this is a new system and i almost i can't tell you why like it sounded full and rich and fine and then it went very thin and then it did it again and oh what did i have to figure that out but that's not the point of why we're here this morning that's what i'm trying to tell you and um the rather than again being concerned with all of this stuff even if you have a right view of but you are supposed to be a living and holy sacrifice before god then you're just happy that we're in a building right now right it's it's just us to hear with how the building looks or how the sound you're just happy that we're in a building um and if the building was shut down today we would just go meet in the park or we would meet at am welcome's house again or we would meet somewhere right it's not that big of a deal um and then rather than being concerned with yourself and your own personal wants and wishes you become concerned with the fact that the world around you is filled with dead and dying people who are going to hell you begin to have an urgency about evangelizing and sharing the gospel with your friends and your family and your neighbors church toes from being a social club where you attend to catch up on the weekly gossip and align with your friends to a place where you come to learn and to heal and to get re -energized to go back out into the community and continue the good work of spreading the gospel if church is your whole relationship with christ if sunday morning is your whole relationship with christ you're doing it wrong church is what you are doing or your relationship with christ i mean is what you are doing outside of the church and you come back here to learn more about how to do better you come here to heal you come here to re -energize you come here to a fellowship that is the truth i don't want to act like everybody should love each other to be hanging out but what i'm telling you is that this should be the jumping point for the rest of your week and what you're doing in that week uh so so thank you this morning we need to start by properly orientating ourselves orienting i've been practicing that for two days he's still not sitting right uh but we need to properly arrogant ourselves with god and his plan for his church so as we continue the scripture reading for this morning we see this it's romans chapter 12 we're gonna jump into verse 3 here that means for by the grace given to me i say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think with sober judgment each according to the measure of faith that god has assigned for as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function so we though many are one body in christ and individually members one of another so what is the chips well from the scripture that we just read it's clear that the church is many members who are one body in christ the church is many members who are one body in christ in other words there are many different people with many different given things who all come together to serve and to worship jesus but when we talk about the church we do have to recognize that there are two levels of church that we may be talking about the first level is the big c church generally speaking when you read something and church is spelled with a big c with a capital c it's describing the universal church worldwide of made up of all believers so the the big c church is made up of all born again christians across the entire world and the little c church you're reading about in churches spelled with the little c that is your local congregation that is what you're in now and it's made up of born again christians in a specific geographic location who come together voluntarily to work together to fulfill the great commission to encourage one another and to be taught and to be held accountable by their pastors and elders now some people are going to argue with me and some people as i say pastor justin i attended the church for many years and it was in mclean mclean virginia or wherever that church is and i was in tennessee and i watched online and it wasn't a specific geographic location and i'm telling you that the point of what we're going to learn today is this i will take the same thing that i tell my mom i love you mom go to church um i know she's watching right now i know we've already had this conversation mom you need to find a local body of believers means join that local body of leaders you need to become a member with those people you cannot just watch your son preach no matter how much you love him or how well you think i do say amen thank you all right so uh but the point is that the the uh church the local church the little c church is a a place you have to go and you have to be it's a place where you could be held accountable what happens when you say well listen i'm not going to church because i watch preachers on sunday i just sit at home watch preachers on sunday well you know what that that televangelist through your in your television or through your computers can't help hold you accountable for anything he he can't he can't see areas of your life where you might have some hidden sin that you might need to speak into he can't do that for you and i'm not saying that the people are are that everybody is hiding from accountable because there are a lot of people in our very own church to watch because they're they're homebound they can't get to church there there's there's a a myriad of my i can't say that we're tricky the myriad myriad whatever there's a bunch of reasons uh why uh you may not be able to make this but if you can make it if you can make it to a local body of believers and you don't instead you say well i'm just gonna sit at home and i'm gonna watch pictures online you may get some very good teaching and you may not who knows who you're watching but what you aren't doing is having anybody who is in a relationship with you and can speak into your life and can love you and can hold you accountable um so the little c church we are called to come together regularly to worship and praise god to taught and be admonished to hold each other accountable as iron sharpens iron that's why the menace group is called the fours um to be culturally pittance to be praying for and to pray over others to build each other up to love and encourage one another and i hate to belabor this point but uh there are some things uh that the church is not let me tell you what the church is not we already kind of covered this earlier but the church is not a country club for those christians who've gotten their lives together who want to just shut out the rest of us who are still struggling and trying to figure things out you shouldn't go to church and have a bunch of people acting holier than now and looking down their nose actually because you still got struggles in your life i remember getting saved and i went to that very first church i went to and um and i i learned there and i grew up there and i i loved those people but the culture of that church was very much nobody ever admitted that they had hardships in their life nobody ever admitted that things were still going wrong that they struggled like everybody had this perfect pristine line and then i started being decided by a young man named silent and what simon tried his best to to to disciple me and and uh but if you can imagine how hard i am to reign in now imagine me i just barely knew jesus right like i'm still really ghetto simon's trying to ring it but simon was also way younger than me and had some bad theology so simon started telling me well listen as soon as you make up for all the bad stuff you've done your life god is gonna start giving you good stuff what so then i start telling my kids that i like heinous i know we're poor there's uh four of us living in one bedroom at grandma's house and we have no money and uh we used to have a lot of money because i was a grown dealer now we don't have any and uh and lighten this heart but listen as soon as dad makes up for all the bad things i've done we're gonna have a big house like the pastor and we're gonna drive nice cars like the pastor and after about three years my son sean who's many of you may know looked right at me and said dad i don't know what you're doing but you better get on it because it's been three years now and we are still poor and doing bad and i mean you're like you know what i mean i was getting um bad theology that's not what church is for the church is not a social club where you come to uh be seen or seen um and uh the church is not a place where you show up expecting to be told that you're right and that your state is all right and that the world is all right and that you're basically a good person and then god doesn't judge anybody and god doesn't condemn anybody and god doesn't expect us to present ourselves as a holy living sacrifice the church is not a place where you you show up and expect that the world affirms anything and everything about you um that you you show up to church expecting for i hope for your elders that's me and and pastor phil to stand over you and to to guide you and lead you in spiritually what is right and what's wrong you gotta have trust in us that we're able to do that um and at all costs we must reject the idea that our church as a whole and our second warning services have anything to do with us and have everything to do with dying to ourselves and living for the god of the universe sunday morning services are not about us not about our wants and our wishes and how fuzzy the pastor how fuzzy and warm the pastor can make us fiddle on a sunday morning um so knowing that what should we as church members expend from our church and its leaders uh well we've already kind of touched on that um but i think first and foremost you can expect that your church believes and teaches in orthodox theology and let me just say this i i really want for you guys to let this sink in as members of the crossings because we we and you'll see in a minute we're going to have expectations of you but but even before that i just want for you guys to know as you younger guys as you guys move on in life you will to other churches may you go out to college and you have to get any church or you get married you're asking the army you're off to another place and you have to decide in a church that you're going to attend right i want you to understand these are the things that you not only should expect of me and pastor phil this these are things that you should expect of any church you are a member of or that you're thinking of being a member of um and that the most important is that your church teaches orthodox christian theology that means theology that has not changed from the first century that we're not talking about speaking in tongues we're not talking about um tertiary secondary or tertiary issues we're talking about this the bible be infallible in any word of god because if you start with that if that ain't true if that ain't right then what are we doing what what is there to believe why believe it doesn't make any sense what do we believe and teach about jesus but jesus just a good man was jesus just or maybe even jesus was a prophet but he's not the son of god that would be facing christian orthodox christian theology what we teach about who jesus gives what he did um what we believe about salvation all of those things that i talked about uh two sermons ago those things right um and uh that means nothing contrary to those things um and again if you need a refresher on that please go ahead and jump on our website pastor phil's done an amazing job at taking these sermons that we're doing and breaking them down to just the sermon and posting them online and then creating um questions to go along with them and all of that good stuff um so please look on that but secondly you should expect that your ears uh that your elders meet the biblical standard of an elder so why should you listen to anything phil and i have to say for that we're going to move to um first timothy and we're going to be in chapter three i'm going to start in verse one the saying is trustworthy if anyone aspires to be officer of overseer he desires a noble task that word overseer there is translated as it could be pastor it could be elder but it is most usually elder bishop or overseer or overseer is what it's translated to um and it is a very specific office in the church that's why you'll see the pastor phil and i and and just us as a church have moved away from the language of pastors although we're the pastors we moved to the language of elders because we want to uh make sure the people understand the office of which we have been called team uh but first therefore an overseer or an elder or a bishop must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober -minded self -controlled respectable hospitable able to teach not a drunker not violent but gentle not wholesome not a lover of money he must manage his own household well with all dignity keeping his children submissive or if someone does not know how to manage his own household how will he care for god's church he must not be a recent convert who i had a problem with this when i first started preaching i i just could not understand why i had been saved for 112 minutes why why did they not just hand me a pastor at this didn't make sense i kept i kept trying to get up and preach and they kept shoving me back off the stage and telling me hey learn how to sweep the floor properly first i didn't understand it i was i was upset about that i was irritated about they were to say right here you must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the contemplation of the devil moreover he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace into the snare of the devil so your elders that is pastor phil and myself should absolutely meet these qualifications that your elders should be a brotherly coach perfect no please don't try to make us be perfect because that's impossible but nobody should be able to look at us and say that we are angry we think or we drink too much or that we're lovers of money or that we're lovers of other people's opinions that we don't exhibit the fruit of the spirit that we don't need our households well that we're arrogant we're conceding um nobody should be able to say that we treat our spouses or our children with anything other than love and kindness and respect um we should be known as honest and upright men who love now the attention of this who love god our families our church and our community in that exact order let's hear that again as door elders we are called to love god first then our families do what then this church now me did the community that's important because sometimes you guys will look at us and and and we love you but you will expect us on a saturday night as we are still trying to mentally and spiritually prepare to bring a message to you you will expect us to jump in the car and run across town and get you something from don't go pastor jesse get i need you to go give me subway please that's a true i'm not i'm not pointing nobody out but i am saying that is a true request i got one one time i got called and and then the and listen here's the deal we love to give people ice and we love we love to serve you as our communities but also we're also called to love our family first well setting first is god our relationship with god has to you know the one and then we have to take care of our families and what pastors do far too often is that we don't put set aside specific time for our families and instead we we we flip that priority we put our church first and then everybody summers you don't get the best of us our family don't get the best of us so we don't do it in this order but we should also be men who teach the whole word of the lord not skipping past any book or verse for fear of insulting someone for fear of hurting someone um amen or fear of being counseled um as a matter of fact your elders should preach the word in such a way that quite honestly guys you should regularly feel the sting of conviction and the need for repentance this is exactly why we do um the time of response at the end of every service this is why we we do an altar call this is why do we now have uh mr greg and miss marianne who are the altar call prayer team to pray with you that you should regularly feel the distinct of conviction the need for repentance you and and with rock this is the american legion every other hour of the day every other day of the week but when we are here when we are doing this this is the church and this is the altar of god and you should feel convicted enough to come forward and get on your knees before your god and present yourself as a holy living sacrifice for repenting for the things that you are being convicted of and it ain't me convicting you and it ain't feel convicting you it's the holy spirit inside you can victim you um you should you should feel convicted to the point where you're compelled to come forward um if you um go to a church either here or anywhere else in the world and the only thing that ever happens is that you'll leave feeling all uh warm and fuzzy inside and and and all that ever happens is that your ears get tickled um then you are in the wrong place and that's not to say that you shouldn't often leave here feeling uplifted and encouraged when i'm not saying today listen if i don't make you feel terrible every sunday and if phil hasn't made you feel terrible every sunday you're not doing our job that's not what we're saying what we're saying is that you should often feel convicted and the need to repent and you also should often feel uplifted and encouraged and re -energized for the week it isn't an either or right you should be getting both and if all you're ever getting is one or the other then if if all you're ever getting is you're leaving feeling bad and horrible about your life then we're doing preaching wrong we're using this this poem that they call it a poly pulpit and that's all we're doing is is we're behind our bully pulpit and and uh we're doing you wrong You're just nitpicking every little thing in your life. But also at the same time, we stand up here and we just scream, love, love, love, love, love, love, love. And we never scream repentance. We may be loving some of you and some of your family right into hell. So there has to be a mixture of the two. Moving on. Nothing in the church, another thing that you should expect from us and from the church is that nothing in the way the church is run or about the church finances should be secret. There shouldn't be, you know, backroom meetings. And that's not to say there was a time when we were, there was a lot of things we had to decide and we have a leadership council put together and we met as a leadership council and we hashed out a lot of things. But there was absolutely nothing that we were doing that anybody couldn't have asked us that we wouldn't have said. And it's nothing that we did that we, we did ultimately bring to life and let the church know and to talk about. And so nothing should be done in the darkness. Now, that's also not to say that the congregation should give veto power over all of our financial decisions because the elders have got to be able to lead as God directs us without being handcuffed. What that does mean though is that there should be absolute transparency and if there is an issue with money and the majority of the congregation takes issue with how the finances are being handled, a special meeting can be called, the situation can be addressed, and also if need be your elders can be dismissed. If Phil or I are not handling finances correctly, we're not handling the word of God correctly, we're not handling God's church correctly, you can absolutely get together as the congregation of the church. If your members, let me put that caveat on it because this is the new members class right now, you refuse to become a member when it becomes time to vote on something, we still want to hear your voice. We still want for you to go and say, I think this or I think that, we're not saying that, but when it comes to the official vote, only the votes of the members count. That's how it works in America, that's kind of how we do it here. But we want you to understand that while we are an elder -led church, ultimately we are elder and congregational -led, meaning that you have to have the trust in us as elders to direct and to cast vision and to do the things that we're supposed to do, but if there comes a point where it's obvious, like, we started getting a bunch of new people, there's all kinds of new people, and the idols still keep sounding weird, and we don't have money for this, so we don't have money for that, but all of a sudden, Pastor Justin starts showing up in some Armani suits, and instead of a 2018 Mitchell lynching, I got me a Cadillac car, you know what I mean? There might be an issue, you might want to look into that. We may have a special meeting, Pastor Justin may get kicked out and in jail. Oh, that's how good I was there. Just don't drive the lives in England. Yeah, just don't drive the Cadillac to church. I'll leave it at home. You know, well, but listen, elders can be dismissed, but also, you should expect that your elders act as your shepherds and protect you, the congregation, from evil influences or wolves in sheep's clothing. That means you should expect that the church discipline is very real when you worship in something that actually happens from time to time. Again, you guys ever leave, you go somewhere else, you're looking for a new church, you decide, hey, I don't like Pastor Justin, go on somewhere else. Cool, go somewhere else. But when you go somewhere else, this is one of the things you need to look for. If you need to believe in church discipline, will the shepherds of the church, will the elders of the church, won't they discipline the people in the church, right? I think. That means, like I said, you should expect church discipline to be very real and that it happens from time to time. And again, anything in excess is problematic. So if this was, or any church, was a church where it just always seemed to be keeping people out and calling people forward, like all of these things, that would be a problem. But I think a bigger problem is when, as elders, we don't have no church discipline. We allow people to come in and to kind of do whatever they want and to act whatever way that they want to act. And we see things in their life that are issues and, hey, we don't go to them and we don't say, hey, listen, I see this sin issue in your life and this is contrary to what the word says. And you need to straighten up that you need to whatever. And we don't follow through on that because we're afraid. Being a pastor is a hard dog, guys. Do you understand that we have to walk this tightrope of making everybody happy, but also at the very same time being very concerned about your souls and your spiritual health and how you're doing in life and also we're expected to be businessmen and we're expected to keep the church running slowly. And it's a hard job in that dichotomy between trying to keep everybody happy and wanting people to like you, but also being willing to just talk to people and just say, hey, listen, this is an issue or that's an issue. And if people are undefended, not willing to change, being willing to follow through with church disciplining. And we, the Bible clearly calls us shepherds. I think sometimes people get offended when I talk about shepherd and a flock and then people are like, calling me a sheep. Not me, God did it. That's true. But I'm also a sheep, right? But in this particular situation, Phil and I are the shepherds of this flock and I want you to think about how silly some of this is. It's like as if we would, the shepherd would allow a sheep to go wherever they want and do whatever they want, right? Think about a shepherd out in a field and the shepherd has got sheep and instead of using his big cup thing and keeping them together and keeping them safe and in one area, there's sheep that want to run over there, there's sheep that want to run over there, there's thorn bushes over there, there's lions over there and there's a, there's a clip that they can fall off over there. But the shepherd is standing back going, I don't want to offend nobody, you know what I mean? So I don't want to hurt nobody's feelings away. Meanwhile, sheep have fallen off the cliff. She did make my life. That's just silly. Or even worse, if the shepherd sees a wolf in sheep's clothing whose whole intent is to divide and then destroy the flock, but the shepherd refuses to address the issue for fear of upsetting people. We see this clearly in Paul's letter to Titus in the first chapter where he's addressing the qualifications of an elder. This is Titus chapter one. We're going to start in verse five. And some of this is going to sound familiar because it's kind of what we just went over in Timothy, but there's some things in here I want to point out to you. So bear with me here. Paul says to Titus, he says, This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. Then he starts talking about what are the qualifications of an elder. If anyone is above reproach to husband or wife, then his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick -tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self -controlled, upright, holy, disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction, his sound doctrine, and to also rebuke those who contradict it. And I want you to pay close attention to this. We talked about early orthodox theology. This is what Paul's talking about. There's an orthodox theology that's been talked about since the first century. And what Paul is saying is, the elder that you pick to oversee these churches and to run these churches has got to be able to teach orthodox theology, has got to be able to teach sound doctrine, and to rebuke those who contradict it. For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced since they are upsetting all families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not teach. One of the cretins, a prophet, of their own, said, cretins are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is trinked. Therefore, we rebuke them sharply so that they may be of sound faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and to the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work. So listen, to be a member of the Crossings Community Church means that you're putting your trust in us as your elders, that we are qualified and tenable of overseeing your spiritual health and growth. Now trust me, I get that. I get that takes an incredible amount of trust. But if we are to be responsible for helping you grow and remain spiritually healthy, that means that from time to time, we're going to have to have hard conversations with me. That means we're going to have to be prepared to make hard decisions based on what we believe God is calling us to do as a church and then to knock that down from that, even with some of you who might think we are wrong. But let's look at, we need what the Bible says about church discipline for a moment so that we could be on the same page as to what we're even talking about when we say church discipline. Later on in the third chapter, that very same letter to Titus, Paul tells Titus how to lead his congregation and he ends the section by telling him all about church discipline. So this is Titus chapter 3, verses 1 through 11. He says, remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every... I don't think y 'all are ready for that one. To be submissive to rulers and authorities. Please, yeah. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentles. This is exactly what Pastor Phil was praying about this morning. And to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. What Paul is saying is here is, remember before we got saved and we were doing the same dumb stuff that they are doing now? Right? Instead of being mad about that, we can get frustrated. We can be like, why are they doing such dumb things? We can do that. But we also ought to remember we were doing the very same thing. And if we're not careful, we can slide back into that and continue to do that the same dumb thing. Right? And Paul's saying, hey, listen, remember, we were once foolish, disobedient, led astray as well. But he says, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God, our Savior, appeared, he saved us. And not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. What he's saying here is that we are better now than them and not because of any other reason except we were doing the dumb stuff they were doing. And then we got saved when the Holy Spirit came to live within us. And now the Holy Spirit is helping renew us and regenerate us and make us new. And now, hopefully, the difference between us and them is when they do something stupid, they're not convicted of it. The hope is that when we do something stupid, we are convicted. The hope is there's a state and God's like, oh, listen, we've got to Christ do that. The other day, it was literally two days ago, Xander is starting to learn to produce music and make music. And again, I told you guys many times about me and there's a bridge that gets me. And the music is of the devil, I believe. And I don't, I'm sorry. The music I like to listen to is definitely of the devil. Not yours. Because I've listened to questions. I said, I said, Xander, I said, let me show you some of my favorite producers of the cake. And I don't know most of you I don't know what this is, but I put on some songs by DJ Quick and with then three songs again, I'm trip -walking across the kitchen and it's, it's a terrible, stupid sight. And I, I need, I need Covenant Eyes. I need them to build a program instead of calling it Covenant Eyes. I need them cats to build something called Covenant Ears that just blocks me from listening to that stuff. But, here's the thing, I do it, but then I'm convicted. I'm like, not only should I not have been listening to that trash, but I'm playing it loudly in the kitchen and showing my 14 -year -old, I'm like, listen to this guy. It's absolutely terrible. He's 15. 15, sorry, but to make sure he was full, right? And, anyway, so the renewal of the Holy Spirit, he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy and I want him to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are insolent and profitable from people, but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, paroles about the law, for they're unprofitable and worthless. That means for those of you who want to argue about things with other people, this person believes this, this person believes that, if it ain't about Jesus and the gospel, quit arguing with them. There ain't no need for you to be arguing with folks. Listen, let the world argue about the world and let us point them to Jesus. That's what we need to do. It says here, avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, having nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is war and sinful, he is self -condemned. And then also, in Titus chapter 2, verse 15, he tells us that, as elders, it's our job to declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard them. So as your elders, as your pastors, it's our job to declare all of these things to you and to exhort them and to rebuke you with authority if you're not following up or if you are disregarding them. So if anyone is acting in a contrary way of scripture, we are to remove them from the body as a cancerous lesion if they refuse to repent and be reconciled. And this, where we get this from, is highlighted most pointedly in the book of Matthew chapter 18, and let's start at verse 15. Matthew says, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. Between you and him alone. Let's make this very clear. If Reagan has offended me about something, if there is something Reagan has done that has offended me, or if I think Reagan is doing something that's unscriptural, it is not my job to walk around this church and to gossip with Charlie about it and to start telling Charlie, you know what that Reagan did, did you go. It's not my job to hop on Facebook and start talking to people about Facebook. It is my job to go to Reagan directly and say, Reagan, I love you and I want you to know that I see this in your life or you did this to me and I believe that it's sinful and whatever. We're supposed to talk about that. And if we cannot come to an agreement about what, or if we can't agree, it says you have ain't a brother. If he listens to you, you've gained a brother. But it says, but if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. So me and Reagan talk as she's like, I'm sorry, I didn't do it. I don't agree. I don't believe that I've done anything wrong. I don't believe that what you're saying is sinful is actually sinful. But then it's my job to come back and to get one or two others and I believe it should usually be two others and I believe firstly that it should be your elders, unless it's one of us you're upset with then that means find somebody else. But I believe it should be your elders that you come and get. Right? So I come and I get filled and I'm ground Mr. Greg and I say, will you guys come with me? This is what Reagan's done. I believe she's wrong. I believe this is where she's wrong. Right? We go to Reagan and then at that point, again, we don't go blast this on social media. We don't start walking around the church telling everybody in there about what happened. We go to Reagan and we talk to Reagan again and now it says if he refuses to listen and I'm sorry, no patriarchy Reagan but they just say he and the blind will because they do. They still need you. But if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. That means kick rocks, kick him out, cut him off as a cancerous lesion from your body. As you would take cancer from your body, cut that person off from your body and even then, you come to the church and you tell the church, here's the issue that we had and I talked to Reagan alone and by the way, it's just everybody knows, I just, Reagan was the first person I saw when I started saying this. Reagan's done nothing. Reagan is a very nice young lady. He does all of our social media and I'm like, man, she made me like, you know what, I don't want to be used as an example anymore. Sorry, Reagan, I love you. But, and I'm truly not saying anything about Reagan, but if I said, hey, I went to Reagan privately and Reagan would not listen and so then, you know, we cannot come to the various event. We went to the elders of the church and we talked to the elders of the church and we talked to them and they agreed that she is in sin and we went back to her and we talked to her and they told her and she's still unrepentant. She's still unwilling to reconcile and so, so now we are bringing Reagan before you as a church body and she's, she's in sin, she's unrepentant and we need to talk about this and we need to discuss and the way that that's going to work in this church is members of this church will vote. Do we separate Reagan? Do we tell her she's got to move on? Do we keep her? Do we whatever? But the Bible is clear that we are supposed to have disputes in a very specific way and this is for everybody here. This is not just for pastors or leaders. This is for everybody in this world. If you have a dispute, not just with somebody in this church, but with another Christian, if you have a dispute with another Christian, even from another church, you are to go to them. This is the way that you are supposed to do things. So I know we're running a tagline and I'm cool with that, but maybe I'll move on to the very last part. So we understand church discipline. Hopefully you understand what you can expect from the church and us as your elders. And now we're going to move on to member expectations and commitment. So the first expectation, the first commitment and expectation that we expect of you, if you're going to be a member of the Crossings Community Church is something that we've been talking about all morning and that's trust. We need for you to trust your elders and their leadership. We need for you to, if you don't trust us, honestly, you shouldn't be here and we want you to be somewhere where you're like, no, yeah, I can trust that guy. And it may be that you're like, you know what, I like Pastor Justin and he's funny and I like that. I hope you're funny. But I like hanging out with them and all of that is really fun, but I just, I don't trust him as an elder. Then we would ask for me to find a place where there's somebody who you trust. Christ, again, that teaches Orthodox theology, that does all of these things, but find somebody you can trust because you need that person, you need that elder to speak into your life. You need that elder to be able to come to you and say, hey, I think, I think you're wrong here. I think this needs to, I think you need to course correct. I think, I think Maggie, I think you're off course. They can need to get back on course. And you're not going to do that if you don't trust your elders. Why wouldn't you? I wouldn't. The second commitment and expectation of you as a member is that you will protect the unity of the church. That means that you avoid gossip, that you hear a member disparaging another member or a leader of this church to immediately stop them and send them to that very person they are upset with. I will tell you that there was a point probably two years ago where on a regular basis a couple people kept just coming to me and they would start off real nice. Well, Pastor Justin, your sermons are so good. We like your name, preach. And oh, you're, you know, you're really smart. And they'd say all these nice things that show, but I don't know about Phil. I don't know that immediately be like, hey, listen, have you want, if you think Phil's doing something wrong, if you think, if you don't like what Phil's doing, have you gone and talked to Phil? So, here's what's, I'll say this the same way me and Maggie go get our kids and we say, we're a team and you're not going to break us. I will say from the pulpit right now, me and Phil are a team and you're not going to break us. Phil and I are, we're wife and we're customers and we're still working out which one of us is which, but I will say he did us, you ain't going to break us because the second somebody says something funky about me, Phil calls and he's like, hey, listen, and the first time somebody says something funky about Phil, I say, hey, you better go tell Phil, you better go talk to him. We have to, and we, and listen, we have to be that way with each other as well. Listen, you got to have enough respect that if somebody comes to Maggie talking about Chris, that Maggie is a good enough person to say, hey, you need to sit down with Chris to talk about it. I will probably make a diss track before Matt is confused. I know, that's the, and that answer is the wrong way. Yep. In, in like, you know, the, the contrasting things that we're talking about here, you know, don't do that. So, no diss tracks. The third commitment and expectation of you as a member is that you will share in the responsibility of the church. That means pray, invite others, welcome visitors, really see this church as, again, what, what is your, what is your relationship with God and this church? Is it consumeristic? Is it, this church is here for you and for Jordans and for your wants or are you here in this church to further the gospel of Christ in our community? And if that's the case, then what is your responsibility? What, what are, what is your responsibility? Where are you serving? What are you doing? For the, you've got to help with, in the responsibility of the church. You've got to pray for the church, pray for the people of the church. You've got to invite people to come to church. When people come in, you've got to welcome them. And I, by the way, I think we do that very well. So continue to do that. Thank you guys. Here's what I will ask though. We're very good at welcoming people. We're very good at coming around. People, yeah, so you're doing whatever. Please let's all, for the love of everything, try to get them to fill out a convention card. The reason that we were talking about earlier about the, the church center app and why that's important. The reason why I'm so big on these connection kind of things guys is because now I am responsible personally to go to a whole slew of people to Southern Baptist Convention and report to them. And what I'm supposed to do is report statistics. And so I don't care to take the tendons so that I can say, oh, Eli, you missed two weeks in a row and I can come chastise you. That's not what I want the statistics for. I want the statistics to be able to give to these higher -ups who are helping us plant this church. And it's the same thing with those connection cards. A, we need to be able to follow up with the new visitors when they come there. We need to do better at that because we do great welcoming here. But then once we, well, we do a terrible job of following up to, so we need to follow up. But we also need to have statistics. How many visitors did we get in the last six months? I need to be able to report that to people. So if you guys can help me with that, that would be that dope. The fourth commitment and expectation of you as a member is to serve in ministry. That means discover your gifts, take the spiritual gifts assessment, develop a servant's heart. But one of the things that I was taught, even from the time I was just a little kid, my mom always was like, our job is to serve in the church. Our job, I'd be like, Mama, why are we here? We're cleaning the church. Nobody else comes and attains the church. Why are we here folding bulletins? We each have paper bulletins and me and my mom will go in on a Saturday and just be folding bulletins all day long. And why are we here? How come after the good old Baptist pop -luck, does everybody else go home? But why are me and you and these two old ladies here cleaning up? Why is this our job, right? Because it's our job to serve. And it's everybody's job to serve. If you, I don't even care if you're not a member of this church. If you... and I have any other questions. Attend this church on a regular basis. You should be serving somewhere. You've got to develop a servant's heart. But if you're a member, it's an expectation. If you're not a member, it's just an expectation. Will you please? If you're your own member, this is an expectation. And the fifth and last expectation and commitment of you as a member is to support the ministry. That means attend faithfully, live Godly and give carefully. And I'm going to jump on a little bit of a pet peeve of mine here just for a second. And then we're going to close in a timely response. But we have for a long time as a church had a kind of culture of we will show off the church about two Sundays a month. And we've kind of had a culture of like, hey, I might stroll in 15 or 20 minutes late. And we've got to get away from that. And we've got to get back to, listen, regular church attendance means exactly what it sounds like. Regular. That means if there's an hour to five Sundays a week, we've got to be there three or four Sundays a week. Right? That's... How many times have I done this that you yelled out to me? Yeah. Anyway, a month. But you get what I'm saying here, right? And guys, I'm not trying to be a jerk about that. And I'm not... But for very real reasons, A, if this is where you're learning and you're re -energizing and this is where you're coming to get convicted and where you're coming for all of these things, how's that happening if you're not here? And then on a very practical level is we're trying to build the church. But if you think about it, if you walk into a building and you're going to a new thing and you walk in and there's only five or six people there, what's the chances of you coming back? As opposed to if you walk in and it looks like there's a room full of people and they're excited to be there and they're happy to be there, that makes a big difference when a visitor comes in. If a visitor comes in and there's 30, 35 people, chances are they might, could come back. If they walk in and there's eight of us and it's just my family and Phil's family, I can't do that. It's probably more than that. But whatever. If there's 12 of us and it's just our family, what are the chances those people are going to come back? Right? Like, that's just weird. So guys, we've got to get back to what is regular church attendance? Regular church attendance is, we at least three times a month. And we're not going to chase you down, guys. We're not keeping attending so we can have record and meeting, you know, coin out, you know, you weren't here, you didn't do this, you didn't, we're not doing that. We're just saying that, I hope the Holy Spirit will convict everybody here, but I need to be there, mom. I need to be in the room. If I don't have a good business, not be there, I need to be there. And then giving cheerfully. The only way that we do this is with monies. The only way, and we, and I've gone to the SEND Network, banking out, and it's been assessed, and they're giving us some money. They are supplementing our money every month so that we could do ministry. And that's awesome. And we're thankful for that. And part of the reason why I have to keep all of these records and I have to give them all of these statistics exactly because they're giving us money. But here's the issue. Google, get yourself a tissue. These cancer gonna stop giving us money in a couple years. And when they do, we better be, have built ourselves up to the point where we are financially able to do what we need to do, right? So again, we don't, Phil and I don't want to know what you give. We, we, we prefer not to know that now we don't give anybody prep learnings for treatment because that would be hard not to do. Look, if I found out that every single month Charlie gave us a check for two grand, I might just start doing anything Charlie wants me to do. Charlie might just decide that he don't like the color of these cards back here. They need to be full. And I'm like, well, purple in the air, Charlie. Like, you know what I mean? Like, Phil and I try real hard not to know what nobody gives. And again, we're not keeping, keeping record as in like we're trying to hunt him down or whatever. Now we're keeping, the church is keeping record so we can send you giving records. But so, um, let me get pretty wary of about that, guys. Um, so in this time, of response here's here's what I'm asking as we wrap this up I want for all of you in this time of response to really think about what you've heard and and and what's gone on these last four weeks in um this this new members class I want for you to you guys to come forward uh we've got our altar fall team up here if there's anything that you guys um want prayer for but but my specific ask of you is I want you to think about what's been going on what we've been talking about these last four weeks about membership I want you to take this membership idea seriously I don't want for you to become a member just to to to be on the lows I don't want you to become a member just because I think pastor Justin might help me down ask me why like I want for you to take seriously um becoming a member I want you to pray about that so what we're gonna do normally there's music playing but um I broke it and there is no music today so what we're gonna do is we're just gonna take a couple minutes if anybody wants to come uh you can pray by yourself or you can come grab this Marriott and grab this for great uh they'll be more than happy praying you and after service is over you just want to grab one of them and pull them aside and help them pray they'll be willing to do that that too if you're afraid you come to the altar but let's normalize coming to the altar again we we used to do this in the 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s and somewhere in the 50 ,000 people just stopped having all the calls so let's have a moment of prayer and then uh we will dismiss Jeremy father god we just we thank you so much for this community and for uh Brunswick and lord we have such a heart to Brunswick and to see the lost people of Brunswick come to know you and come to uh a saving salvation um that can only be found through you and god part of that is that we have to as a as a people become more evangelistic and we have to we have to start filling a fire burning within us for uh sharing the gospel with people and inviting people to church and and for serving in our church and for taking seriously the things of your word that you have uh laid before us and so god we just ask right now that you will you will convict us every one of us in this room of any and all of the areas of our life where we are not presenting our body to you as a living and as a holy sacrifice lord we ask that you convince us of that that you will break us for for for the things that break your heart break our hearts for that which breaks yours god we pray that you will help us to build up this church and this church community lord so that we could be a strong vessel to go into the community and be agents of change lord not for our own um selfish wants or for pride of looking see but more just so that we can actively go to the community share your love with the community and see people saying thank you for each and every single person here today thank you for all that you do for us it's in jesus name we pray amen You [00:02:00]

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Transcript
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