Introduction:
A. What does it mean, The Church is the body of
Christ?
B. Doesn't it mean we are God/s hands, feet,
etc.
C. But have we really thought about what that
means?
Prayer
Rom. 12: 4-8 and Matt. 28:18-20
I. What do these scriptures tell us?
A. We are one body in Christ.
B. We have many different jobs.
1. Some pastors
2. Some teachers
3. Some singers & musicians
4. Some encouragers
5. Some prayer
warriors
6. Some trustees
7. Some treasurers
8. Some ushers and
greeters & etc.
C. We are all a part of one another!
D. We are to go into all the world with the
gospel!
II. Let's look at the significance of the church being the body
of Christ!
A. We are Christ's bodily temple
on Earth now! We are the embodiment of
Christ!
B. We are "the plan!
1. There is the story of a fictional discussion
in Heaven
between Christ and St. Peter.
2. In this discussion, Christ tells of how he
plans
to reach out to
the world and show them he loves
them; he tells
how he wants to tell them how he
wants to have a
relationship with them. He shares how
his desire is that all should come to
repentance. He shares how he plans to show all of this to
the world through his followers.
3. Peter says, "Lord this plan sounds good,
but what
if it fails,
what is the backup plan?
4. The Lord looks very seriously at him and
replies,
"There is
no other plan."
C. The Church is the body of
Christ, "The Plan," the "only Plan." The Church is God's arm extended to our
world!
D. We are the Evangelistical arm of God into the
world!
III. To see the importance of the Church as God's arm extended,
let's look at
a world where this extension of God has ceased to exist.
A. It would be a world where the Bible was lost;
could
happen one of
two ways!
1. Satan would see to it that the existing
Bibles
were
destroyed. No one who would see to it
that it was ever printed again. We would
resist this one something fierce, I think!
2. Satan would create an indifference to the
Word;
there would be
no one who realized the importance
of the Bible
and the message it contains inside.
We are
dangerously close to this today!
a. Many people never read the Bible; many do
not
even have Bibles in their homes.
b. Christians rely on what they hear read to
them
on Sundays and seldom read it
themselves
through the week!
c. Nobody is trying to take our Bibles away; if
they
did, we would be upset, but yet, we let
them
sit unused in our homes all week!
B. It would be a world where
hatred and bitterness reigned instead of Love, and there would be no one to try
to change it.
C. It would be a world where
greed and jealousy were prevalent with no signs of generosity and trust. Making money would be the gauge by which
everything is measured rather than dignity, justice, and love!
D. It would be a world where no one cared for
the other person, only for themselves!
1. When someone was hurt, there would be no
shoulder
to cry on!
2. People would be fulfilling their own desires
with no concern
for right or wrong.
E. There would be no spiritual guidance! There would be
no lights to
shine in the darkness! Nobody to tell
the world that God loves them and has sent Christ for them!
1. The church was here before Democrats or
Republicans.
2. The church was here before the United States
ever
came to be!
3. So no matter who is in charge of the Judicial
or
Legislative
branch of our government, no matter how well the United States does, the church
is to be the light shining in the darkness!
4. We are to be holding up the hope that is
found in
Christ! Christ is the answer! Christ is what
the
world needs!
F. Any good would eventually be
gone! That would be a world without the church: God=s
arm of evangelism! It has been said we
are only one generation away from a world that doesn=t
know God! Think about that!
IV. But that isn=t the way
it is; there is still Hope! That Hope
is in the
Church!
A. God has given us an awesome responsibility!
B. God has confidence that we can
do the job. God has put all trust in us;
there is no other plan. God has
placed all the
eggs in one basket!
C. The way we can do it is by giving our all to
Jesus and letting God live through us.
We then become God's
body, God's arm
extended:
1. To show those on the outside
that God loves them and desires a relationship with them
a. through daily opportunities. AWith
all people@ & AAs we go.@
b. through intentionally making opportunities
either
individually or as a church.
1) individually:
plan a time!
a) Ask someone over.
b) Plan a shopping date.
c) Help someone with a task around
their
house!
2) Church: activities like the chicken BBQ!
Anything we do to bring those on the outside into the church building to give
us a chance to talk to them!
2. To show the hurting that God cares because we
care, and to
tell them that God cares!
3. To show “all” people that God
loves them and that there is a place for them in the church!
4. To be a light shining in the darkness.
Again: AGo
therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
that I have commanded you. And remember,
I am with you always, to the end of the age.@ Matt. 28: 19-20
5. We
do not go out alone! That is what the
flame
represents
that we carry out at the end of the
service!
Conclusion:
A. Church are we accomplishing our part of that
task?
B. Christians, how about us as
individuals? The Church is made up of
individuals. As we all grow in Christ
and do our part (whatever that is), we will see results! We will make a difference! The Church, God's arm extended to a lost and
dying world; that is the plan! We are
the light shining in the darkness!
You know what?
I believe the Church is alive and well in our world today, and it is making a difference. Is it because God is making a difference through you??
Prayer of Confession
Communion
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