May 15, 2022
Morning Service

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we walked with Jesus, listened to His teaching, experienced the miracles, and decided that He truly was the Christ the Son of God.  He prepared us for His departure and empowered us with the Holy Spirit to fulfill our commission until He returns for us.  We were instructed to:

Mat 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

            We are like the graduates we recognized today.  High School has been completed and now it is time to move on and use the things we have leaned and put them to work.  The purpose varies for these graduates as it may be to move on to the next level of education or go right to work now.  Jesus made our purpose crystal clear to us that we are to “make disciples” by introducing others to the Jesus we are following and trusting the Holy Spirit will call them to accept Him as their Savior.  The task does not end there as we are to “teach them to observe all things I have commanded you.”  Not only are we to introduce them to the Lord, but once they believe and establish a relationship with Him, we are to teach them how to live out His commands and join us in fulfilling the commission we have been given.  It is a cycle that has continued since the apostles began it the day they received the Holy Spirit.  It is not something we do alone, but together as a body of believers seeking to fulfill the same purpose.  Jesus handed down His authority to the apostles and they in turn handed it down to groups of believers that Jesus called His church.  In Matthew Jesus said this to Peter after his confession that he believed Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God.

 

Mat 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

            “I will build my church” on the foundation that Jesus truly was who He said He was.  The church is made up of everyone who believes and is baptized.  After Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2, three thousand people were added to the church.  We added eight new people to the church on Easter Day, so we know the church continues to grow as the Lord calls those who are ready to receive.  This church is alive and well all over the world and we here at the Bride of Christ Fellowship are part of it.  Our commission is to make new disciples and then spur growth in them through the teaching of the Word.  We are striving to grow in the Lord individually and collectively.  We are building the church together upon the foundation of Jesus being the Christ the Son of the living God.  I find it very applicable that Jesus’ trade was a carpenter.  He built things and now calls us to follow suit.  Notice how Peter explains our part in this construction project:

 

1Pe 2:1-5 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, (2) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, (3) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  (4)  Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, (5) you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

            By following the commands of Christ to die out to ourselves and lay down all these things, we desire to grow into the people He designed us to be.  Through the growth that obedience brings, Peter call us “living stones being built up in a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  Jesus is the foundation that we build upon and we are each “living stones” being part of the church Jesus is building.  The story of the church, God’s family, continues to be written and we are part of it.  Paul describes the building of the church like this:

 

Eph 2:19-22 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, (20) having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, (21) in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, (22) in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

            We are no longer on the outside looking in, no longer “strangers or foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”  We are all family being the adopted children of God our Father.  We all have our own unique stories, but we have in common that we have accepted the invitation to follow Jesus and become part of God’s family, the church.  We are growing by being fitted together to utilize each other’s strengths and overcome each of our weaknesses.  We are better together!  Together we make our fellowship of the Lord’s church a place where people feel loved and welcomed.  This establishes the atmosphere needed to fulfill our commission and add new members and to build stronger each of us who are already here.  This is accomplished by each one of us doing our part; using our gifts and abilities to exhort (build up) each other, the church.  Paul explained the working of the church in his Roman letter by comparing it to the working of our God designed bodies.  We are all part of the same body, but each of us do something different.

 

Rom 12:3-8 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.  (4)  For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, (5) so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.  (6)  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; (7) or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; (8) he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (9) Let love be without hypocrisy.

            You are the church.  When you enter these doors, you should be prepared to receive what God has for you, but also you come to offer what you have to God.  You are not to come to church to be only a fan that cheers from stands for those who are doing the work.  You are called to get on the field and participate in the battle.  You are the church.  God has called you to be part of this fellowship for a purpose and now you have to be in prayer seeking what it is you can do to make us all better. “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” and with that certain gifts and abilities that we need to put to use within the workings of the church.  We are not all good at the same things, but each of us brings a gift to the table to be shared with others.  Paul here mentions prophecy (preaching), ministering, teaching, exhorting, giving, leading, and showing mercy as a few of the gifts given but there are many more.  Whatever it is we can do, we are to do it willingly and with a passion as an act of worship to our Lord.  We best imitate our Father when we are loving one another.  Verse 9 states, “Let love be without hypocrisy.”  It is our love for God and for others that keeps us on the right path.

            Next week we will begin our study of the Paul’s first letter to Timothy and move on to some of his other letters he wrote to churches he established.  He, through the Holy Spirit helps to lay out the groundwork of what the church will look like.  I would like to challenge each of you here this morning to take a look into your spiritual mirror and see what it is you can bring to make us better.  God is calling you to a closer walk.  It is time to quit “playing church” and get busy fulfilling our commission.  The world today needs a strong, but loving church full of people who are following Jesus faithfully.  You are the church; it is time to get to work.

 

Heavenly Father, fill our hearts with a desire to be all that we can be for You.  Open our eyes and hearts to see You and see what part each of us can play in making our fellowship better.