← ArchiveSunday, September 7, 2014DateSeptember 7, 2014Speaker—TextEphesiansPassages in this sermonHebrews 100:27Ephesians 311:12Ephesians 3:1011:15Philippians 3:1011:221 John 416:54Ephesians 425:56Ephesians 2:825:58Ephesians 4:1226:12Acts 226:421 Thessalonians 528:272 Thessalonians 128:331 John 1:933:31TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00awesome awesome thank you Greg thank you choir and praise team praise band and all you guys man that's awesome stuff right there amen if you brought your Bible I hope you did turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10 now we began a brand new series today over the next four0:27weeks we're going to be studying the purposes of the church it's a kind of reminder because most of us that are members of this congregation you probably already know what we're about to talk about you already understand that there's several purposes of the church but I want us as a reminder as we launch in this brand new season of church life remind you of the different areas or different purposes of the New Testament church and if you brought your sermon notes also there in your0:56worship folder as well if you'll turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10 we'll read the scripture text and then we'll step back up and look at that message truth that I have for you Hebrews chapter 10 beginning with the 19th verse the Bible says since therefore brethren we have a have confidence to either in the verse 20 by a new and living way which he inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh and since1:18we have a great priest over the house of God let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from the evil consciousness of our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful1:42let us consider how to stimulate one another to love now don't take that don't take that out of context there don't be stimulating each other okay but let us stimulate one another in love and good deeds and not forsaking our own assembling together as in the habit of some but encourage one another and all2:04the more as you see the day drawing near let's pray father let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight today we give you all the praise all the glory and all the honor in Jesus name we pray and the church did say amen look at the message truth it's in your outline I want you to follow along look what it says fellowshipping with God fellowshipping God2:32must never become selfish we must also connect with other believers in a local assembly for the practicing of fellowshipping with others for all of eternity now I want you to keep that up there just for a second area because I don't want you to lose sight what we're talking about here fellowshipping with us in this room together in this worship gathering today is a practice session for what we will be doing for all of eternity now wait time out just a second Dan hang on just a second you mean to tell3:00me that we're going to be hearing preaching for all of eternity no there'll be no preaching in heaven please don't say amen to that that would hurt my feelings deeply right I have a real problem with that but there will be no preaching in heaven there'll be no need for preaching in heaven it's all about worshiping and fellowshipping with one another as the assembly of the saints fellowshipping God should never become selfish it should not be inward it should not never ever ever should be about us3:29amen it should never be about us it should always be about him he is the audience of one I shared with the choir on Wednesday nights my philosophy non-negotiables in musical worship worship is setting our minds attention our hearts affection on God and Greg and I've talked about this extensively even last night we talked about it a little bit now I can tell you from a musical perspective3:57music should be biblical if we're going to worship in spirit and in truth I thought I got an amen on that one if we're going to worship in spirit and truth music must be biblical if it's not biblical it should not be done amen if we're not we cannot come and do a rock concert and it not be for Jesus it's all about him so music should be biblical it also should be singable4:21it ought to be something that we can sing and it also be something that we can teach now There's some things that have been printed out there that you just can't sing it's hard to sing I'm telling you it's hard for this country boy to sing some of the songs that's out there And so we need songs that are singable and they are teachable meaning that we should go to the restaurant this afternoon Hum in those songs We should have a little bit of the sermon in your heart should have a lot of the music in your heart4:50Hum in those songs so they should be biblical should be teachable should be singable You see fellowshipping with god must never become such should never become selfish must also connect with other believers in the local assembly For the practice of fellowshipping with others for all of eternity Now I know what some of you are going to say you're going to say pastor hang on brother I can go to logan martin and worship. Yes, you can Sure, you can you can worship him anywhere anytime at any point in time5:16I worship on delta airlines a lot of times i'm worshiping on delta airlines Please lord. Let this thing take off and land properly. I mean I all of us get in a car I worship in the car, but we need this gathering Of believers so that we can be encouraged so that we can be sent out and deployed for ministry So I want us to think about the perspective of what church fellowship is all about now5:42Now my day back in the day when I grew up growing a church first first baptist trustful We had what's called fellowship hall It was a designated area and all that was used for was the wednesday night suppers Amen And so we had that fellowship and it's what we thought that's all it was We can only fellowship there in that hall right there folks. Let me tell you something fellowshiping with believers6:06Should be a constant ongoing thing We've heard stories speak all the time while people say well, i'm going to join the church When they get a new pastor Well, we know that that's not the practice of this believing church here Because we had a family join last week and you don't have a permanent senior pastor By the way until you get one i'm it6:35I'm sorry you're stuck with it For at least through the day It can change I'm contract labor. That's what I am. I i'm here today gone tomorrow, right? But I until you get a permanent senior pastor you're stuck with this for a few more days I hope but people if you're here today and god has brought you here today7:00And you say man, i'm going to wait till we get a new senior pastor. I want to ask the question why? If he brought you here to be a part of this assembly of saints Come on and join in with us and help us pray him here and be a part of the transition period Wait until the pastor I never figure that out god called you here he called you here Regardless of who what hack standing in the pulpit preaching amen7:29So he's called you here be a part of that So let me give you before we give you what church is I think we need to define what church is not and then we'll get to the outline in a minute So y'all buckle up if you want to flip your worship folder or your handout over you can write these down Here's what church is not It's not a loose affiliation of people who hold roughly the same religious belief no matter what those beliefs might be7:51It's not a loose association of believers I'm not joining a religious club When I join a church is what i'm saying It's not a loose association of believers It's not a building The church is not a building now we in the deep south. We just butcher and this pastor8:18Butchers the english language and we use things like let's go to church. Well, I am the church The church indwells inside me the holy spirit of god is indwelled in my life This is a worship facility This is nothing more than wood Carpeting concrete brick. It's all that's all this is This is just a building the church is not the building we house the spirit of the living god8:46We are the church a building is a place where we meet I'm, not going to an exclusive clubhouse when I go to be with my other church believers Amen I it's not the church facilities It's not just a non-profit organization Eric, we got to fix this brother This is driving me Absolutely, and it don't take me long to get crazy But it's driving me a little bit crazy9:15It's not an organization of non-profit organization Although we are non-profit you get your tax deduction If you contribute to this congregation But it's not just a non-profit organization with a clear defined statement of objectives and mission statement It's not that we're not joining some philanthropic organization when we join the church We're joining a group of fellow believers on a journey So the church is not that but here's what the church is the church is a regular9:44Regularly assembling of group of believers who believe that jesus christ is lord of the universe That we've accepted him as our savior and our lord that we've been saved by god's grace alone for his glory alone through faith alone in christ alone We believe that we are the church because we've invited jesus christ into our lives10:09he controls our steps So it is a regular assembling of the saints It's also a local living and loving collection of people who believe in the same thing The same thing is winning the loss equipping the saints for the work of ministry So we believe in the same thing and we're committed to christ and we're committed to others10:34It's a display of god's wisdom God in his infinite wisdom and his sovereign grace reached down and many of us in this room reached down and Snatched us right out of the pits of hell. Amen Aren't you glad? And so we're all saved by the same grace Brad did not get more grace than I got I got more no more grace than anyone else in this room11:02So he reached down in his infinite wisdom and his glory He reached down and gave us the gift of eternal life for our very own Turn with me quickly to ephesians chapter 3 Jesus chapter 3 i'll prove that point ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 I'll get to the message in just a second ephesians chapter 3 Galatians ephesians 3 right before philippians chapter 3 verse 10 Listen to what the bible tells us In order that that the manifold wisdom of god might now be made known through the what say it with me11:29Church To the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places So he we are part of his wisdom and part of his glory I tell you what else the church is the church is a display of counter-cultural christ-like loving fellowship That's what we are We should not look like the world11:57We should not act like the world Now i'm telling you we're in the world But we should never be of the world We can go do the same things We can all go to the the worship facilities in tuscaloosa and down in jordan hair We can go down there to the worship facilities there We can go there and worship our favorite sports team We could do all of that like the rest of the world does that's okay But just keep it in context of what it is We are the church of the living god and when we come in this room12:23We are bond knitted together The church however and some of you may are like this or not but you'll just have to get over it But the church is for members of the of the body of christ only Mmm Church membership is for those who are12:50Believers of jesus christ you say wait a minute can if i'm not a church member can i not worship here? I didn't say that We want you to worship here We want you to participate in everything that goes on in this congregation We want you to get involved in everything that goes on Because we know if you get around us enough we're gonna wear off on you we hope We hope that you're gonna like what we're about So church membership is for believers only13:18Church membership signifies that a church has corporately Endorsed you as a christ follower When people join the new testament church You see I believe we've done a misservice over the years we can train a monkey to fill out that card We can walk the aisle grab a card stamp you give you a box envelope stick in a sunday school class And we really don't know if you're truly saved by his grace The most important thing that happens to a person when they come to part to be a part of a local new testament church13:47Is to find out discover who god is in their life Get connected to be developed as a fully devoted follower of christ and then be deployed For ministry around the world. Amen So we must evaluate Our lives are we truly Saved by his grace so it's an endorsement Believers that genuinely converted christians are people that are genuinely converted christians are members of the local church14:16And it makes sense to hear their story it makes common sense to hear where they came from and what and where they're headed We need to know what's going on in a person's life So when I speak to someone at an invitation time I first thing I ask him well tell me your story Tell me where you're coming from Church membership signifies that the corporate body believers called bethel has endorsed who14:43You are church member for you also signifies an individual commitment to Grasp hold of and be committed to one another in love and Discipleship meaning we need to be connected. You see just a loose of fellowship I'm gonna show up here on hour and get my hour in for god a week and then not be a part of the rest of the ministries of the church I want to know where's your heart? Where's your commitment during this transition time? Let me tell you something gather in here close15:12Don't miss what i'm about to tell you the community has their eyes affixed on bethel church The community is watching how we respond as a new testament church They know that the former pastor 20 years is left the words out Everybody in town knows it And so the community said how are they going to respond now?15:38That they don't have brother chris around here Folks, let me tell you something. I believe beyond a shadow of doubt brother chris would want you to respond the way christ wants you to respond And I believe we need to tell the community that we're alive and we're well and the best is yet to come Now i'm about to start preaching here just a second Church listen to me We need to be committed to one another16:06We need to be committed to one another in Attendance we need to be committed in our giving In our praying in our service we need to Expect god is going to move every time we gather together as the body of believers church membership signifies a regular Responsibility that involves each of us getting involved in each of our lives16:31Let me tell you something the greatest churches on the planet. I've studied them. You know what they do they do life together They do church together They're involved in church together So church membership also signifies an inward love for god in our lives and the people of god I want you to look at first john 4 verse 20 If someone says I love god but hates his brother He is a liar17:00For the one who does not love his brother whom he has not seen Cannot love god who he has not seen If he loves he says he hates his brother and this I command you that we have from him That the one who loves god should love his brother Also church let me tell you something we cannot stand up and say we love god and hate each other Amen17:29Amen We've got to say we love god and we love each other Now we may not like each other much And you may not like me That's okay I'm short term around this place anyway But let me tell you something church. I love you unconditionally Warts and all Don't care where you've come from more concern about where you're going Amen So we got to love each other now17:56Let's get to the message So how in the world? Why do we need this thing called fellowship? Why do we need it? Why do we need this thing called fellowship if you look at this passage of scripture? There are really three great christian virtues in this passage faith in christ Hope in christ Love for others in christ And they are the fruit of righteousness called the new testament church18:23Let me say you something folks we need each other We need desperately each other And we need fellowship because it is a place to belong And we need a place we need fellowship Because it builds faith in the believers We need to gather together as the new testament church because it builds faith in the believer18:47Pick it up in verse 22 Let us draw near with a sincere heart of full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from the evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering We need each other because it builds faith in each other19:15When the believer has his hope and fixed in christ and relies on the fruit fruitfulness of that the fruitfulness of god then we will not waver Remember, I watched many of you come in this morning Many of you walked in And you just plopped right down on those pews You just fell right down on them Sat down on them19:44Let me ask you this question Let me ask you this question How many of y'all Had it had no fear of those pews holding you up? And you know there was other people already sitting on the pews so there was already weight on those pews and you were saying my goodness gracious Let me just test and see if that pews gonna hold me up No, I watched you you just came in there and flopped right down Sat right down on our pews didn't you? Why? Because you had faith in the pew You had faith in the pew to hold you up20:11Well, when you come to the assembling of the saints the believers call Bethel church and we gather together It builds faith in the believers when we are all knowing that we're all on this same journey together We must be found faithful during this transition period We must commit To the journey together so it builds faith in the believers number two20:37It supplies hope to finish well It supplies hope to finish well look in verse 23 So let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised Is faithful I did a research Brad There's over 7,000 promises in the word of God 7,000 Now we don't have 7,000 people in this room Wish we did But we don't21:06I'd like to see 700 people in this room Amen I believe this building can hold it If not we got room we'll figure it out We'll drag some chairs in Set them up there somewhere We'll get somewhere do something Put them in the choir Whatever We'll put them in here So bring people if you want to We've got plenty of room But I'll tell you something about this hope stuff This hope is that when we read When we understand what he said He who has promised is faithful21:34He promised to give you direction He's promised to love you unconditionally He's promised to put you in mission On mission each and every day And he's promised to meet your needs Right where you are So it Why we need fellowship It supplies hope To finish well I don't know about you But I want to stand one day When he says well done Thou good and faithful servant Don't you And during this transition period Y'all haven't done this in 20 years During this transition period22:04It's the most important time In the life of the church That we Realize that his hope Is all we have to lock into My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus' blood And his righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly lean On Jesus' name On Christ The solid rock I stand All other ground Is sinking sand Church It supplies hope22:33To finish well Thirdly It creates An atmosphere Of love For one another It creates An atmosphere Of love For one another Verse 24 Let us consider How to stimulate One another to love And good deeds Now the teenagers Oh man They're all fired up About that love Stimulation stuff Man They're all fired up About that Church let me tell you something We need to start Loving one another You say well I love everybody In this room We'll tell your face23:03About it then Amen We really do need To let the world know That we love one another One thing I did find out About this church Before I said yes Is that you have a history Of loving the community And loving each other And I want us to continue To do that We don't want to stop that We want to ramp That love thing up We want to tell the community That we're alive and well And we love each other Unconditionally23:32Unconditionally So it creates An atmosphere Of love for one another Number four It creates Or provides encouragement For daily living When we're together We pray That we've created This atmosphere Of love And equipping We pray that we've created This atmosphere Of excitement That we can walk Out of this place More encouraged Than when we came Our job As prompters of worship As leaders As pastors As leaders Is that we're to provide An atmosphere Of encouragement24:02Of encouragement That's better Than going out of here Discouraged Isn't it Now sometimes You're going to think You're going to be A little bit discouraged But I'm going to always Try to point you To the encouragement That Christ has In salvation So it provides Encouragement For daily living Look what verse 25 Says For not forsaking Our own assembling Of together As in the habit Of some I started thinking About that phrase As I was driving Over here this morning I saw a lot of people24:31Forsaking that Assembling today There's a lot of people Around in Moody That just were forsaking Now they may have Gone to church Somewhere else last night Maybe they did A Friday night worship Or maybe they're Going later Maybe they were On their way But I just assumed They weren't going anywhere I really did I just thought They may Especially the guy That was walking Out of there With a case of beer I doubt Very seriously He was going To worship somewhere Now maybe he was Going to worship That beer I don't know But he was They were forsaking25:01They were forsaking The assembling Of the saints Folks let me tell you Something We know people That's on our Sunday school role We know people On our church role That are at home today Now every now and then A day off is okay Right Every now and then A day off is okay I said every now and then A Sunday off is okay No I think it is But you know You have a right To be wrong But anyway It's okay to be25:31Gone on vacation Do some things like that That's okay But be connected To this body of believers Forsaking not The assembling Of the saints It brings encouragement For daily living Number five It provides a location This is the location Where the equipping Of the saints Occur I love what Ephesians chapter 4 Says Now Ephesians chapter 2 Verse 8 and 9 We love that26:01I'm going to be teaching The book of Ephesians By the way It's at 530 In this room tonight We're going to start Verse by verse To the book of Ephesians Come join me If you don't have a class To be a part of It's going to be exciting But look with me Ephesians chapter 4 Verse 12 Ephesians chapter 4 Verse 12 For the equipping Of the saints For the work of service To the building up Of the body of Christ Building up We need to get together To sit under godly teaching26:29Through a small group Sunday school class Or through a small group Sunday night class Or through the morning Worship service It is a location Where the equipping Of the saints Turn with me to Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 Nine times Nine times Luke's pause To give summary Of the statement Of the status Of the church The product Is evangelism That produces Disciples Making disciples Of all the nations Is a goal Of every New Testament church26:58The product Is evangelism Next week The mission The message on mission And evangelism Can't have one Without the other Missions without evangelism Is nothing more Than a tour And evangelism Without a mission Or purpose Is nothing more Than just out there Doing something We're not having We don't have a strategy So we need to have both So missions And evangelism This is a place Where we can build Up the saints And number six It is a place27:27Where the redeemed Celebrate Now if you didn't Celebrate today In musical worship It's your fault Let me say that Once again If you did not Celebrate through Musical worship Today It's your fault You say Well I didn't like The songs Okay Hang around We'll probably27:57We'll probably Do one of yours And then we'll have Some people Say well I don't Like that song Well they They were here When they like You know You didn't like They stuck it out With you They're going to Stick it out And again You stick it out Church it's time For us to celebrate In the sanctuary Amen It's time for us To get busy About celebrating him In spirit And in truth It is a place Where the redeemed Celebrate Turn with me To first28:27To first First Thessalonians Five Verse Sixteen and seventeen You'll know this First Thessalonians It's right before Second Thessalonians First Thessalonians Five Verse sixteen And seventeen Listen to what it says Rejoice Always Now Verse seventeen Pray without ceasing Verse eighteen In everything Give thanks For this is God's will For you In Christ Jesus I love What he says Rejoice28:56Rejoice Always Rejoice Always Yesterday In the state Of Alabama In the two Biggest venues To host People There was probably A hundred plus thousand In one And Eighty Ninety plus thousand In another And they were rejoicing When their When their worship band Took off out there Amen And when their worship team29:23Ran out of there They all were rejoicing Right It was a great day Right I mean It was a real good day At one of them I'm not going to tell you Which one it was It's in Lee County But anyway It was a real good day In both of them They were having fun They were rejoicing We want to come Into this place Expecting God To do something Uniquely special In our lives So let's rejoice29:53Let's lift up Thy holy hands Unto the Lord Let's use our hands To worship him In spirit And in truth There's time For us to draw it down But I'm going to tell you Folks We need to hit this Hit the ground running And he says Rejoice Always Rejoice Always Worship Helps us focus on God Fellowship Helps us face life's problems Discipline Fortifies our faith30:23Ministry Finds our talents And evangelism Helps us fulfill The mission That God has called us to It is a place Where the redeemed Celebrate Or better still It's a place Where the redeemed Say So Now if you're A guest here today I want to give you A declaration It's on the last Statement Down at the bottom Of your handout Bethel Baptist Church30:51Is not A perfect church We're just not We got a bunch Of old Worn out Saved by his grace Christ followers We were a mess And he reached down In our mess And gave us the gift Of eternal life We're not a perfect church But we are striving To serve a perfect savior Bethel Baptist Church31:19Is not a perfect church If you think You're coming to join A perfect church You're gravely wrong We're a mess That God has given us Grace and mercy Amen We're not a perfect church But we're striving To serve A perfect savior It is by grace That we're saved Through faith And that not of ourselves It is the gift Of God31:48Of God Lest any man Should boast So we need To be a part Of the fellowship And we need To be committed To the fellowship Every day Let's pray If you're here today And you're looking For a church home I can point you To no other Than this one If you're here today God pointed you here For a reason He pointed you here For a reason Because he wanted you To be a part32:18Of this great congregation If you're here today And you've never truly Invited Jesus Christ As your savior And your lord Today is a day Of salvation For you And we're asking you First to consider Asking you first To invite him Into your life This body of believers Will put their arms Around you Gladly welcome you But you must Come to faith In him first So if you're here today And you've never truly32:48Invited Jesus Christ As your personal savior Lord Today is a day Of salvation For you We have trained Counselors That would love To sit down And talk with you About that They have They have A mechanism That will walk With you In your Where you are In your life Stage right now And they want To talk with you About just that Coming to faith In Christ But if you're here today And you've never truly Invited Jesus Christ I would be derelict In my duty Not to invite you To come To faith in Christ Today33:17Today If you're here today And you say Dan I'm already A believer I'm already a believer If I died today I would spend Eternity in heaven With Jesus But I'm just not Running I'm not walking With him I'm not Walking with him Right now 1 John 1 9 Says if you'll Confess with your mouth He's faithful and just To cleanse you Of all unrighteousness In this room today He can reach down From the halls of heaven And cleanse you Of all unrighteousness In this room today Now you can only be saved33:47One time But you can Recommit your life Afresh and anew In this place today And maybe you're here Today and you say Dan I want to Recommit my life To live for God Today Maybe you're here Today and like The family that Came last week They were looking For a church home And now they're here Maybe you're looking For a church home To be a part of A fellowship To be a part of Maybe you're here Today and you say Dan I want to Be a part of This great church34:17We would open Our arms And our hearts And our lives To you To be a part Of this great congregation We would love to have you Whatever the decision We have a trained counselors That will sit down And talk with you Servant leaders That will walk with you And point you In the right direction In a moment We're going to stand We're going to sing I'll be here at the front If you need to speak to me34:46The other staff Will be here at the front Whatever the decision Maybe you just need To come to this altar That's whatever it is It's open for you Right now I'm going to pray We're going to say Amen We're going to stand Brother Greg Is going to lead us We're going to begin To sing And I'm going to Ask you to come Whatever the decision God has put on your heart To come You come Father God Do what you want to do Do all you want to do In this place And we give you All the praise And all the glory And all the honor Thank you Father35:15For the freedom To worship you In spirit and truth In this place Thank you Father God For the opportunity To be with my brothers And sisters here today And God we know That you have some In this room today Right now You're already speaking To some in this room Today right now That just need to Stand up and step out You never called A silent disciple And you're calling Some out today Right now Give them courage To stand up And step out And we give you35:45All the glory In Jesus name we pray And the church said AmenMore sermons on Ephesians →
