Of faith. Every third Sunday when we have communion, we go over a different doctrinal statement. Today we are looking at the church, what we believe about the church. Oh, children are dismissed at Children's Church. Thank you.
That's the quietest bunch of kids we've had here in five years.
Always remembering that our final authority for matters of belief and conduct is Scripture. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality and the proper conduct of humanity, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. Our statement of faith is just a shortened, concise summary of our core beliefs. It does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. You'll see before you now the statement that we have on the church.
Would you please read that with me? We believe that the true church can comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone. In Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ of which he is the head. The true church is manifest in local churches whose membership should be composed only of believers.
The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the Gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer. We'll take this one sentence at a time. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone. In Christ alone.
First and foremost, the church belongs to Jesus. In Matthew 16:18, we read, and I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. The Church belongs to Jesus Christ. It is by his plan, it is by his effort, it is by his death, burial and resurrection, and his continuing work that he is building his church. And he promises us that no matter what happens, ultimately the gates of hell will not overpower the Church.
But by the work and the victory of Jesus Christ alone, we will overcome all things. What does the word church mean? It actually means the called out. In Acts chapter 9:31, we read the church throughout all Judea, Galilee and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. In this verse, the Church is singular because worldwide, throughout all generations and all times, in every nation and every place, there are members of the Church universal.
And that's what we see. There was just one church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria. But that is the primary meaning of the Church, the whole Church of all times. But it also refers to individual bodies. So if we go to Galatians, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2.
Paul, an apostle, not from men or by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers who are with me, he was writing to. Now it's churches, plural. So we recognize that within the region of Galatia, there were multiple churches. So when we talk about the church, we can be talking about the universal church, or we can be talking about individual fellowships such as the one we are worshiping today. We believe that the true church comprises next all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ Jesus.
What we want to see here is the importance of grace and the importance of faith and ultimately the importance of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 tells us, you are saved by grace through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus Christ for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Only those that are justified, declared free of their guilt and sin by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, are part of the body of Christ. We are saved, meaning we are brought out. But saved also can mean that we are healed. And Jesus Christ does this as grace to us. And when we talk about grace, that means it's a free gift.
It's not something we can buy, nor is it something that we can earn. That's why Scripture says that the gift that God gives us, the gift of grace for salvation, it comes merely through faith that we put out our hands and we receive it without any strings tied, without us owing anything in return. Paul goes on to emphasize that it is not from yourselves. Again, he says it's a gift from God. And the reason why it's not from ourselves.
The reason why it's not from any works that we can do. The reason why it's not according to how much money we give or how well we attend church or what we do for other people. The reason is that if we base it on what we are doing, then it's our natural tendency to. To boast about something. But Scripture says it's not by works.
We have nothing to boast in of ourselves, but we do boast in Jesus Christ what He has done for us. It's further clarified there in verse 10. For we are not our workmanship, we're his workmanship. We're not created in ourselves or anyone else. We are created in Christ Jesus.
And then good works follow from that. But good works do not precede salvation and bring it to us. Those that are truly in the church have been saved by grace, by accepting the gift by faith, that Jesus Christ has done all that is necessary for us. The next phrase is that they are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which he is the head. What we want to see here is there is only one Spirit, the third Person, in the Trinity.
In 1 Corinthians 12, we read, for just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many are one body, so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all given one, one spirit to drink. What is the one most important word here? One. It's.
It's over and over. It's reiterated from every nation, from every tribe, from every tongue. God deserves worshipers, and he reaches out to every nation, tribe and tongue to invite them to be part of his church. And all those together, all ethnicities, all ages. We are all one.
And we have one singular person that is guiding all of us in the same direction, and that is the Holy Spirit. But not only do we have one guide, the Holy Spirit, we have one head, and that is Jesus Christ. We read in Ephesians, chapter 5, Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. We all look to him for direction, and His Spirit is within us, guiding us in what he wants us to do and how he wants us to live.
Once again, we go back to the church is manifest in local churches. Many local churches abound. And we go back again to the verse in Galatians, chapter 11 through 2, that he was writing to the multiple churches of Galatia, not just to the one universal church. We go now to First Corinthians, chapter 1 2, to the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both their Lord and ours. Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, but he describes what true believers are looking like in that church because only believers are part of the church of Christ.
It says that they are those that are sanctified in Jesus Christ, meaning that they've been set apart for his service. They've been set apart from the world. They've been set apart from living their own lives to live the life that he wants them to live. They've been called out from the world. They're set apart.
That's what the word saints means, to live a different life. We're supposed to look odd to the world. We're supposed to look different. That's what attracts people to the gospel. And also these believers, they are those who actually call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
They recognize him as Lord, they call out to him as Lord, and they live their lives as if he truly is their Lord and their Savior. These are the only believers, and they are the only ones that are members of the Church of Christ. The next phrase says that the Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper, which visibly we look at these things and tangibly we're able to touch them, express the gospel. We go to Jesus last words recorded in Matthew 28, where he said, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything. I have commanded you and remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.
There are three commands that Jesus leaves us here. It's for the church, and they're also for us as individuals. The first one is that we are to make disciples. That means we share the gospel. We lead people to faith by telling them what Jesus Christ has done for us and express expressing to them their need that they have for a Savior, but also offering to them the opportunity to respond to that gospel.
That's the first mandate. We do it as individuals, we do it as a church. But just equally as important is that Jesus says we're also supposed to baptize them. There's a second step here that everyone that comes to faith in Christ should be encouraged to to go through believer's baptism. But we're not to just leave people at that point.
It says that we go on continuing to teach them to observe everything. I have commanded you three commands. Make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them. So baptism is one of the ordinances that we celebrate in the Church of Jesus Christ. Let's go to Romans, chapter six, verses three through five, and let's get some more understanding.
What does baptism picture we read there in verse three? Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? So in one sense there's this inner spiritual baptism that happens, that the Holy Spirit baptizes us into Christ Jesus. But what we do externally is Just a picture for people to see what. What has already happened in our life.
It goes on to say that we were buried with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. Jesus died on the cross. He was buried. He rose from the dead. And Paul tells us that he went on to talk to the 12, and he talked to the 500, and he spoke to people, and they saw him, and they saw him.
He had new life. That's what baptism pictures. When you're lowered into the baptismal pool, it shows that you're being buried, that you've died to yourself. And when you're raised up out of the water, it shows that you're walking into a new life, just as Jesus Christ did. It says in verse five, for if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection and praise the Lord.
Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we have the same hope, we have the same security. We have the same confidence that one day we will be raised to new life. The second ordinance that we have, that we participated in today is the Lord's Supper. Again, it's visible, we see it, but we hold it in our hands. It's tangible.
And we once again read what Paul wrote. I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way also, he took the cup after supper and said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this. When you see do this, we see it. It's a command from Jesus that we're supposed to participate in the Lord's Supper. And Jesus not only told his disciples, but he personally passed it on to Paul. I want you to let all the churches know this is something that you are to continue to do.
The Lord's Supper is commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how often are we supposed to do it? Some churches do it every week. Some churches have ceremonies at their church every day. We have chosen to do it once a month.
It says in First Corinthians, do this as often as you drink it. It doesn't specify a certain period of time in which you're supposed to do it, but it says, we're supposed to do it often. So if someone says, how often should you have the Lord's Supper. The answer is often. In other words, have it frequently.
We have it at regular intervals on the third Sunday of each month. But that's our choice as long as we're continuing to do it on a regular basis. We go on to read that First Corinthians. He said that this is my body, which is for you. Every time we partake of this, we are to remember what he did for us.
We should reflect upon the scourging and the beating and people spitting on him, and him also placing his body on the cross. And when we partake of the cup, we're supposed to remind it that we have a new covenant now, that by his death, burial and resurrection, by the shedding of his blood, we have a permanent relationship with the Lord God Almighty. The Lord's Supper is a visible and tangible means of reminding ourselves of the gospel. Where do we find this coming from? Well, we find in the Old Testament that there was a picture of it there when the Jews were wandering through the wilderness, that God provided for them the manna.
And at that time, they didn't realize that it was a picture of what Jesus Christ would be for us today. But as we look back to it and because of what Jesus has told us, we should see some similarities. In John chapter six, we read that the one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. Now, Jesus is exaggerating here. It's a simile.
He's not telling us to literally eat the flesh and blood that he provided on the cross. Now, in the early church, they were. People were accusing them of that. They were saying, well, he said, eat my flesh and drink my blood. But Jesus was not telling them to do that.
He was giving them a picture of how important it was. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. I will raise him up on the last day. Because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Now, notice we're going to be looking at the man in the Old Testament.
They're both food. They both come down from heaven. But Jesus is the most important food, the spiritual food that is true. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. And just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna that your ancestors ate and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever. If we compare the man in The Old Testament with Jesus Christ, who said that he is the living bread. Both came down from heaven.
Both were provided by God. Both provided everything that was needed for everyone that was willing to partake in the Old Testament with the manna. It provided everything that they needed for their spiritual life. But the differences are that when we come to Jesus Christ now, there is enough by his once coming and dying so that everyone can have what they need spiritually for all times. Jesus Christ did not have to provide his body day after day like the manna was provided in the Old Testament, but only once and for all.
Jesus as the bread that came down from heaven provide now everything that is needed for not just our physical life, but for our spiritual life, which is the true life that is most important. I brought a book today. It's called I Am a Church Member by Thomas Raynor. We give this book out to everyone who's a new member. I would encourage you to purchase one of these.
They're not very expensive. There's a lot of white space on the pages. It's easy to read, but it's. It's just a good reminder of how we can be healthy, committed church members so that the Gospel might go out into the world. He has six basic chapters after the introduction, and each one of them is titled as follows.
I will be a functioning church member. I will be a unifying church member. I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. I will pray for my church leaders. I will lead my family to be healthy church members.
And I will treasure church membership as a gift. Key words there being that we are going to function. We're going to be unifying. We're not going to be concerned about our preferences. We are going to spend time in prayer for our church leaders and in our families.
We're going to lead them to be good church members. And lastly, that we're going to see church membership as something that's special. We're supposed to treasure it in our hearts. Now, Tom has a commitment at each one of these chapters. And just to summarize it, we're going to read through these today.
He actually asked you to sign it and date it in the book. You're reading it today. Does that mean that you're agreeing to it? But hopefully, as we read through these, you'll see the importance of being committed to these basic principles so that our church might more fully and adequately present the gospel to the world. I want you to read with me.
The first statement is I will be a functioning church member. Can we read it together as a functioning member. I will give, I will serve, I will minister, I will evangelize, I will study. I will seek to be a blessing to others. I will remember that if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.
If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. All of these things are important. Serving, giving, ministering, evangelizing, studying, seeking to bless others. They're all like organs in our body. And if one of them ceases to function, how much of the body is affected?
All of it. It's important for us to continue to do these things and commit to them. The next chapter is is on being a unifying church member. Let's read his summary here of what we should all be committed to. I will seek to be a source of unity in my church.
I know there are no perfect pastors, staff or other church members, but neither am I. I will not be a source of gossip or dissension. One of the greatest contributions I can make is to do all I can in God's power to help keep the church in unity for the sake of the gospel. Ultimately unity and striving for that. It's not just for our church, but it's so that the gospel of Christ might be spread in our community and throughout the world. The next statement about not letting our preferences and desires be most important, let's read what it says together.
I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires. That is self serving. I am a member in this church to serve others and to serve Christ my Savior went to a cross for me. I can deal with any inconveniences that matters that just aren't my preference or style. I was really ticked off this morning because we didn't have any donuts with cream in them.
Right. Bill's looking at me, you know, should I let that bother me? There are things that are just a little bit bigger than that that we come in the church that we let bother us. And Satan, if he detects that in you, he's going to keep pushing your button on it. Church isn't about any individual person's preferences.
I mean, we do the best we can to please everybody, but is anybody here able to please everybody? Okay, pray for our elders. So they try to do that, but we have to look out for everyone. Don't let your own preferences and desires dictate your happiness and your enjoyment at church. What about praying for your church leaders?
I will pray for my pastor every day. I understand that the pastor's work is never Ending his days are filled with numerous demands that bring emotional highs and lows. He must deal with critics. He must be a good husband and father. Because my pastor cannot do all things in his own power.
I will pray for his strength and wisdom daily. And you hopefully are doing that for me. And you'll also do that for Pastor Hunter and also for our elders. They don't face everything every day, all the time, but they also have to deal with these things. Next one I will lead my family to be healthy church members.
Read with me. I will lead my family to be good members of this church as well. We will pray together for our church. We will worship together in our church. We will serve together in our church.
And we will ask Christ to help us fall deeper in love with this church because he gave his life for us. It's your responsibility as parents to make sure that you're involving your children with you in all that you do here at church. The Last Commitment what about treasuring your church membership as a gift? May we read together? This membership is a gift.
When I receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, I became a part of the Body of Christ. I soon thereafter identified with a local body and was baptized. And now I am humbled and honored to serve and to love others in our church. I pray that I will never take my membership for granted, but see it as a gift and an opportunity to serve others and to be a part of something so much greater than any one person or or member. Just a reminder, next Sunday after this service, we are having a baptismal service over in the multi purpose room.
We know of three people that are going to be baptized. If you've made a profession of faith and you have not yet been baptized, we encourage you to reach out either to me or to Hunter so that we can baptize you next Sunday. Let's read once again the whole statement from our Statement of Faith on the Church. We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone. In Christ alone they are united by the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ of which he is the head.
The true church is manifest in local churches whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances based on baptism and the Lord's Supper which visibly and tangibly express the Gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer. This is just one of our 13 statements that we have in our Statement of faith. If you're interested in reading all of them, there's a little brochure out here on the information board.
I think. I think it's titled what We Believe. We're coming to a close now. The worship team is going to be coming to lead us in a closing song. We're going to have a prayer team at the back.
If you just want someone to pray with you about something, or if you want to hear more about having a right relationship with Jesus Christ, there'll be someone back there to share that with you. Just make your way out as we are singing and you'll find someone back there. Will you stand with me as we close in prayer? Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your church.
Help us to honor it. We ask that you would guide us into making decisions about how we can be better church members to fulfill these commitments. And most importantly, let us remember, Father, that our behaving and doing as we should here within this body is going to ultimately affect whether we get the gospel out to our community and to the world. We thank you that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and we come before you now and as we sing this closing song with joy in our hearts. Amen.
Amen.