CREC 13 C3 Churches- Sermon Notes

CREC 13- C3- Churches

Christ and His Church

Ephesians 5:17-6:10

February 11, 2018

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         We are winding down our sermons on the CREC. We are on sermon number 13 and we are covering the second C, churches. In this sermon, my focus is on the local church and its building blocks.

         The title is Christ and the Church. This is the fundamental reality for those of us who have been joined to Christ. The collective church is the bride of Christ. Each member is not Christ’s bride but the members together are the bride of Christ.

         This passage from Ephesians is very telling. It tells us what God expects of us as Christians, particularly in relation to Jesus. Then he goes on to show us what being a Christian looks like in the particulars.

         Here’s the thing, a faithful Christian is a submissive Christian. An obedient Christian is a submissive Christian. For those of us schooled in the doctrine of Christ, this comes as no shock. Jesus is Lord and those who serve Him bow the knee to Him and confess this truth. This is submission to Jesus Christ.

One Communion

Ephesians says there is One Faith. One Lord. One Baptism. 

And so we confess that One Faith, salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We confess the One Lord, the Lord Jesus, to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. We confess the One Baptism, baptism in the name of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

This baptism points to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who enlivens the heart of every man who confess the one true, apostolic faith in the one Lord, Jesus Christ.

And we confess One Communion, the gathering of the saints who give thanks to God for the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. There is only one Table of the Lord, in which we all partake of Jesus Christ by faith. We look to Him in His death, burial, resurrection, rule and return. For in Him, we live and move and have our being. Let us eat with grateful hearts. Amen.

Believe It All!

There are many ways to sin and turn away from Jesus. One, is to continue in sinful actions, drunkenness, lustful desire, lying to your parents, cheating your customers, as if the Lord had no idea what you are doing. You sin in the actions and you sin against God’s omniscient character.

         A second way to sin, though, is to refuse to submit to God’s almighty Providence over your life. You worry and fear and try to control every little thing and refuse to see God’s hand in the details of your troubles. Furthermore, you hold on to your worries and fears as if they were somehow the righteous deeds of the martyr rather than the sinful actions of disbelief.

         Believe that God knows all things and Believe that He is our God, in the details, in all things. This is how we practice the presence of God and this is how we find peace in Jesus Christ. Believe it All!

Water is Thicker Than Blood

We all have families. Some of you are close to your immediate families and even your extended families. Some of you are not. But I suppose all of you have experienced in a near or far relative that is outside of Christ, or who has left Christ, just how much this church family really is your family. Those outside of Christ, while related to you, are hardly your kin. Or, shall I say, barely your kin. That relationship is always tenuous. I suppose particularly because it is temporal.

         You cannot change your blood relatives. In the world, blood is always thicker than water.  

But for the Christian, water is thicker than blood. We are birthed in and by water and then the blood of Christ is applied to us. Through water we partake of blood and the thing comes full circle.

All those who are baptized into Christ Jesus, and who lay hold of Him by faith are our true brothers and sisters in the Lord. And this reality is more important than the relationship that defines who your parents and grandparents are. You will spend a lifetime with your blood brothers and an eternity with your water brothers. It is extra glorious when they are the same people. But don’t forget who your family is.

State of the Church

Last week I preached an annual State of the Church address. It is my custom so say something annually about the International, National and Local church. I had notes but to post them here would be misleading at best. I now have about 20 pages of notes for that sermon and cherry pick each year with a few updates. I need to edit a bit first before I post anything here.

But you can LISTEN to it!

Communion Prayer

Our Father in heaven, Your name is Holy. We thank You that You sent Your Holy Son to die for us on the cross, to overcome death in Resurrection, to ascend to Your right hand of power and to rule heaven and earth from His lofty throne. We thank You that You sent Your Holy Spirit to dwell with us always.

In this meal, His promises to us in Christ Jesus are yea and amen. We lay hold of Him by faith and receive these tokens of promise that we might remember, declare, and live in the atonement of Jesus Chris, now and evermore, world without end. Amen.    

Thanksgiving

Our Father in Heaven, we are a people full of gratitude. Though we did not deserve it, You have adopted us as Your children, calling us co-heirs with Jesus Christ. We thank You for this and call upon You to increase our faith and our usefulness to the kingdom of God. Grant us growth in grace. Use us and our tithes and offerings to advance the kingdom of Jesus until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord. Thank You for the promise that this will one day be true. Amen.