The blessed hope in Church we
have
We welcome all of you back to the ‘River of Life Assembly!’
We hope you had a great week. Today is a very special day, as we will be
learning about “The blessed hope in Church we have”. We are going to spend out eternity
with the Lord forever and ever, but what is the greatest hope you want to have
in your life? It's not a good life partner or good comforts or good home or
good vehicle. There is something that is greater than everything, it is called
the blessed hope which goes beyond our graves. Governments will not last
forever, nations will not last forever and businesses will definitely not going
to last forever. But, the church will last forever because it is not built by
people, but it is built by God.
The church will last forever.
God’s family is called church today. If we read Genesis we
will understand the creation and the purpose of our existence. But satan played
his game and brought trouble. Finally Christ came and took everything in him
for our sake so that we can be saved and be without creator forever.
Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Ephesians
1:22-23,
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all
things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in
all.”
1 Corinthians
1:2, “Unto
the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.”
Ephesians
5:26-27,
“That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;”
Now talking of Church, bible is not using the word church
but 'Ekklesia'. Ekklesia is a greek word which is pronounced as
“ek•klay•see•ah”. KJV used the word 'Church' so that they can get the support
from the hierarchy. Because the word Ekklesia literally means, “called out”,
the assembly or a congregation.
Revelation 21:9, “And there came unto me one
of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues,
and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's
wife.”
Hebrews
10:24-25,
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but
exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
1 Corinthians chapter 12 in its entirety talks about
individuals and their relationship with God.
Now a days, people are involved in a live in relationship
because they don't want to get married and get all the benefits of the marriage
without any commitments. People need to be committed to the church as they
cannot get all the benefits of the church without making any commitments.
Acts 2:41-47, “41 So those who received
his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand
souls.42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[a] came upon
every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they
were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to
all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and
breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous
hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
1 Corinthians
12:24-25, “24
which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the
body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no
division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one
another.”
Acts 20:28, “28 Pay careful attention
to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”
Acts 22:7, And I fell to the ground
and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
Colossians
1:18-24, “18
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to
himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of
his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil
deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to
present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you
continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the
gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven,
and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for
your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's
afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”
If you want to be the part of Christ you need to be a part
of the Church.
Illustration: the human body doesn't exists to meet the
needs of the hand but hand exists to meet the needs of the body. Likewise
the body of Christ doesn't exist to meet our own needs.
We are interdependent with the Ekklesia!
1 John 3:14, “We know that we have
passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not
love abides in death.”
John 13:34-35, “34 A new commandment I give
to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to
love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if
you have love for one another.”
When you are connected with the Church you have a spiritual
family who will always encourage you to learn from God's word and step by step
walk with God.
Now a day’s many people are looking for a perfect
church.
Illustration: It is related that a man once came to British
preacher Charles H. Spurgeon, and asked that great preacher if his church was a
pure church. He said he was looking for a pure church that he might belong to
it.
Mr. Spurgeon said that he did not know about his own church;
but he did know that there were many good people in it—saintly people and truly
Christian people.
But there might possibly be a Judas among them, as there was
in the company of Jesus’ first apostles. And there might be some deceivers and
idolaters and those who walk unruly, as there seemed to have been in the
churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colossae, Philippi, Thessalonica,
and all the others to which the New Testament epistles were written.
On the whole, he thought that his church was not the one his
brother was looking for. Instead, he did not know that there had been such a
church in all history.
“But,” said Mr. Spurgeon, “If you should happen to find such
a church, I beg of you not to join it, for you would spoil the whole thing.”
The point to this story is simply this; there is not perfect
church.
In our family the worst member is also cared the most
because we love that person. In the body of Christ it is not about how great
you are or how great your spiritual life or how good you read bible.
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Many people are looking for a big church, but I am not
looking for a big church. Even though a small church, it has to be a healthy
church and the one which walks with the Lord and the word of God is
practiced.
Only functioning pastor is not a sign of a good church. All
functioning members are the sign of Ekklesia.
You have to be committed to God and don't be a church
dropout. Stand by the church, stay in the church, pray for your church and tell
others about your church.
A blessed hope is not for the individual but for the Church.
Invite your friends to be a part of the Church and invite them to be that
congregation. It is important that the church today understand the definition
of Ekklesia. The church needs to see itself as being “called out” by God. If
the church wants to make a difference in the world, it must be different from
the world. Salt is different from the food it flavors.
Let us all pray “Lord today I fresh my commit myself to your
work today as you build your church in the world. I commit all of myself to the
role you've assigned to me in the building of the church."
These are my notes from Bill Hybel’s closing message at one of the Summits.
"In my view, the morning
prayer of every sincere Christ-follower on earth should be.... Lord, today I
freshly commit myself to your work today as you build your church in the world.
I commit all of myself to the role you’ve assigned to me in the building of
your church."
Have you ever prayed that prayer?
How about praying that prayer every day? Will you say to the Lord, “Yes, I will
join you fully in your work of building your church”?
We hope you enjoyed today’s
service... God bless!
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