God's Church Part 1

 

God’s Church Part 1

 

The word translated church in the New Testament is the word ecclesia which means a gathering of the called-out ones. We tend to think as an institution or as what the church as an institution believes or does. God sees the church in terms of relationship, as to who we are.

 

How does the Bible define God’s church?

 

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus calls Andrew & Peter to follow Him. So, the church is people who follow not rules or religious traditions, but a person, Jesus. It is not about rules but relationship.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about following Jesus.

 

Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayers and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” So, the church is people who rely upon Jesus & not themselves or the things of the world.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about depending on Jesus as our Savior, Lord, & Provider.

 

James 1:18 says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Firstfruits is the best. We as the firstfruits of all God’s creatures. The church is people who know that we are precious to God.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about seeing ourselves as being God’s beloved as His human creation.

 

Galatians 5:24 says, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The church is people who have their sin burdens nailed to the cross. When Jesus died, He took our sin & the guilty of our sin with Him and gave us His righteousness.  

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about recking yourself to sin & alive to Jesus.

 

Church is not rules to make people perfect.

Church is imperfect people made righteous by Jesus forming a community of faith to help others come to Jesus & make Him Lord of their lives.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                          Joe

Come and See

 

Coming and See

 

In John 1:43-51 Jesus has encounters with Philip & Nathanael after which each of them begins to follow Jesus.

 

In John 1:43 Jesus finds Philip & says to him, “Follow Me.” Philip in verse 45 finds Nathanael & tells him that they have found the Messiah & that He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael’s response was, “Can anything good come of out of Nazareth?” And Philip’s response was, “Come and see.” Nathanael encounters Jesus & he too begins to follow Jesus.

 

The invitation of Philip to Nathanael was simply to come & see Jesus. This is the invitation that we can offer others.

 

What is that we are inviting others to see?

 

We are inviting them to see the love & grace of Jesus. Jesus is love & He through His love pours out grace on us. People can come & see His love & grace for them through us.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about manifesting the love & grace of Jesus through our lives to others.

 

We are inviting them to come & see the power of Jesus. Jesus’ power is demonstrated in our lives by the transformation we have experienced. The evidence of Jesus’ power in a person’s life is not in perfect theology or pious prayers or religious talk, but in a changed life. It is a life lived differently than the world who does not know Jesus & has not experienced His presence.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about people seeing our lives changed by the power & presence of Jesus.

 

We are inviting them to come & see the justice & compassion of Jesus.

 

We see the justice & compassion of Jesus displayed on the cross. God judged sin & His wrath was poured out on our sin on the cross. God is holy & He has to judge sin & He did, but His compassion is shown because Jesus became our sacrifice for sin. We talk a lot about justice in our culture, but human-based justice is either revenge or letting people off with no consequences. God-based justice is righteous, but also with compassion. It is real justice.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about seeking God-based justice, not human-based justice.

 

We are inviting them to come & see the salvation & forgiveness of Jesus.

 

Jesus makes it very clear that He came with the mission of seeking & saving the lost, fallen, broken, messy people of the world (that is all of us). So, we can show the salvation that we have experienced through Jesus & the forgiveness He has given us by being forgiving to others. We can also show it by being honest about our sin & how Jesus has forgiven us.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about, because of our free gift of salvation & forgiveness through Jesus, showing others that same kind of forgiveness.

 

Notice we don’t invite them to come & see the judgement of Jesus. His judgement will come, but our mission is to invite others to come to Jesus & surrender their lives to Him as Savior & Lord because He loves them & died for their sin.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

Joe

What to Do With Doubt

 

 

Is doubt good or bad? Yes & No! Doubt is good when we allow God to use our doubt to honestly examine our lives & let Him then lead us to faith in Him. Doubt is bad when we allow the doubt to lead to not believing & trusting God & we move away, not toward Him.

 

So, what can enable us to us to allow God to use doubt to lead us to Him?

 

There is an insurance commercial that takes about the three P’s of insurance, which according to the commercial are price, price, & price. Well, lets take a look at the four P’s of overcoming our doubt of God.

 

In Luke 1 Gabriel is sent to tell Mary that she will become pregnant & become the mother of the Messiah. In verse 34 Mary says to Gabriel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Mary is doubting. When Gabriel explains how God will accomplish this, Mary replies to him & says in verse 38, “Behold I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

 

We first must trust the person of God. If we don’t trust who God is, we will never be able to fully trust anything else about God. We must believe that God is good & His will is always right.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting that the person of God is good & His will is always for our benefit.

 

Also, in Luke 1 we read about Zechariah’s encounter with an angel & the angel telling Zechariah that he & Elizabeth would have a son in their old age (beyond childbearing age) & they that were to name their son John. Zechariah doubted what the angel told him & Zechariah was unable to speak. When their son was born & they asked what his name was, Zechariah wrote that his name is John & Zechariah was then able to speak again.

 

We then must trust God’s plan & purpose. God had a plan for John to be born to a couple who naturally could not have children & that John coming through them was a miracle & God would be gloried through the birth. God had a purpose also to bring John, who would be the forerunner of the Messiah, to prepare the way for Jesus.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God’s plan & purpose & cooperating with Him so that He can use us to accomplish His will.

 

In Mark 9 Jesus has experienced His transfiguration & has come down & encounters a situation where a father has brought his demon possessed son to the disciples to have the demon expelled, but they could not do it. In verse 22 the father says to Jesus “if He could do anything”. Jesus responds in verse 23 by saying, “If you can! All things all possible for one who believes.” Then in verse 24 the father says, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

 

We then must trust God’s power. The disciples could not expel the demon because they were trusting themselves to do it. Jesus is telling the father to trust His power & the father is honest & wants to believe & cries to Jesus to enable him to believe. Jesus expels the demon & heals the boy.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God’s power & believing that all things are possible when we place our faith in God & not ourselves.

 

The four P’s of overcoming doubt & letting it lead you to faith in God:

Trust the Person of God

Trust the Plan of God

Trust the Purpose of God

Trust the Power of God

 

Trusting God & Raising the Roof & Removing the Walls,

Joe

Koinonia with God

 

Koinonia with God

 

Koinonia is not a Greek currency or a corn casserole with Italian tomatoes or a new hybrid vegetable. Koinonia means to be bound together, as in a community. In the New Testament it is translated fellowship. It is used twelve times in the New Testament to describe what disciples if Jesus are to experience in our relationship with Jesus & with other disciples.

 

In the book of Acts koinonia or fellowship is the glue that kept the early church together & the result was God’s people ministered to the culture & many people surrender their lives to Jesus as Lord & the whole world was impacted. When today people are asked why they are attending the church they are at eighty-four percent say it is because of the love & friendliness of the people.

 

So, how did it happen in the early church?

 

 1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” They walked in the light with Jesus. Light illuminates & purifies & when we walk in the light with Jesus, he illuminates our sin & purifies us from that sin & we are connected with other disciples in a community of faith.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about walking with Jesus in His light.

 

In Acts 4:24 when Peter & John are released by the Jewish ruling council they go to the church & the church prayed to Sovereign Lord. They submitted to God sovereign rule. We must see ourselves as completely under the control of God. It is not my church, or my family or my life, it is all God’s. When we don’t claim as things for ourselves then we can live in harmonious community with other disciples.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about living in community under the sovereign rule of Jesus.

 

In Acts 1:8 Jesus tells His disciples that they will receive power to be His witnesses to all the world. They saw God as real & personal. When the Bible talks about knowing God it means that we experience God in a real & personal way. We know Him as a real person in our lives. When we share that with others it brings us into community with them.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about knowing God personally & living in community with others who also know Him personally.

 

In Acts 4:29 the church asks God to empower them to speak His word with boldness in spite of the threats that was being hurled at them. They trusted completely in God. We must trust that God wants the best for us & He is all-powerful & can overcome anything that we trust Him with. When we come together with that kind of faith it creates a community of faith in which we can serve God powerfully.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about trusting God completely with everything in our lives.

 

In Acts 2:45 the believers were selling their possessions & giving the money to help others who had need. They showed concern for others. When we have a love for God it will be seen in how we serve others. When we serve each other, it creates a community of faith & service.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about loving God & letting that be lived out serving others.

 

God created us for community. Community with Him & community with others who we share our faith in Jesus with.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                        Joe

 

 

God's Will & Your Life

 

God’s Will & Your Life

 

During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln was asked if God was on the Union side & he said, “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my great concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” To be on God’s side we have to know & be willing to do God’s will.

 

Does God have a will for each of us? Yes! Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Can we know God’s will? Yes! Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

 

So, what does knowing God’s will involve?

 

It is about a relationship not a program or a method.

 

In Philippians 2:12-13 Paul says that we are work out our own salvation with fear & trembling. He is not saying work for your salvation. He is saying that salvation is a relationship with Jesus & like any relationship we have to work with the person the relationship is with. Then Paul says that it is God who works in you, both to will & to work for His good pleasure. In any relationship we have to work with the one we are relating to. My relationship with my wife is not just like other men’s relationship with their wives. My wife & I are unique people so our relationship is unique. Jesus relates to each of a little different because we are all different. But it is God who works in us to give the desire for the relationship & the empowering to relate to God according to God’s will.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about not depending on a program or a method but our personal relationship with God to do His will.

 

In John 14:26 Jesus says that the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in Jesus’ name, will teach you all things & will remind you of everything that Jesus has said. Knowing God’s will mean that I read & study God’s word, the Bible, & the Holy Spirit will show me the truth & empower me to obey the truth.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about letting the Holy Spirit reveal the truth of God’s word to us.

 

In Acts 8 Philp is lead by God out to the middle of no where to wait for one man. God tells Philp once the man gets there to go & walk by his chariot. Philp ask the man a series of questions that leads to Philp sharing the gospel with the man & the man surrendering his life to Jesus as Lord. Knowing God’s will means that we have to ask good questions. When we ask the wrong question, we get a wrong answer.

 

Wrong question: What is God’s will for my life?

Right question: What is God’s will?

The focus is on God not my life.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about asking the right questions so we get the right answers.

 

In Matthew 20:28 Jesus that He came to serve not be served. Knowing God’s will means learning to be a servant. A servant of God is one who watches & sees where God is at work & joins Him in that work.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about learning to be a servant of God.

 

In Acts 4:19 Peter tells the people that for them to experience salvation they must repent & turn back. They have to change. If we are going to know God’s will, we must let God change us. We cannot stay where we are & go with God. We are not told by God what to do & then sent out by ourselves to do & when we need help call on God. God shows us what He is doing & invites us to join Him & we then obey & say yes & then He empowers us to make the change so we can serve with Him.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about letting God change us so we can serve Him according to His will.

 

In Acts 4:13 the religious leaders saw that Peter & John were unschooled & ordinary men but they had a knowledge & a passion. The only thing they could attribute that to was that they had been with Jesus. If we are going to know God’s will, we must desire & believe that God will use us. The only requirement for doing God’s will is to know God & be willing for Him to use us.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about is knowing God & trusting that He will use us.

 

Knowing God’s will is not rocket science, it is about have an intimate love relationship with Jesus.

 

Raising the Roof & Remove the Walls,

                           Joe

 

Living Counter Culturally

 

When I hear people talk about books or other writings that changed the world, I think of Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. When I read any part of the Sermon on the Mount I am challenged, but Matthew 5:38-45 is the most challenging part for me.

 

In verse 39 Jesus says that we are not to resist the one who is evil & that if we are slapped on one cheek, we are to turn our other cheek to the person who had just slapped our first cheek. It is not our natural reaction to be hit & not only take it but turn our other cheek to be hit again. We live in a culture that says hit, only hit back harder & resist evil, however we define evil. In fact, many Christians see it as our calling to point out evil & fight against it. Jesus says that we are not to resist evil. I came to understand that better this summer. I met some brothers & sisters this summer who live in a culture that is evil & one of the most repressive ones in the world. Their way of living in that culture was to continually proclaim the gospel & live the gospel out & live with whatever consequences came. They were joyful & had a peace that I honestly didn’t have.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about focusing on sharing the gospel of Jesus which is the power of God for salvation & living with whatever consequences that may bring.

 

In verses 40-42 Jesus says that if anyone is demanding that we do something, that we are to go beyond what they are demanding we do; give them our tunic & our cloak, go two miles if we are forced to go one mile. We are also to give to those who ask us for something. This is not how most people view life. We don’t feel that anyone has a right to demand that we do things we don’t want to do & that we give only to those we like or consider deserving.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about going beyond what we are asked to do & being generous in our giving to others.

 

In verses 43-44 Jesus says that we are to love our enemies & pray for those who persecute us. This may be the hardest command that Jesus gives us. Many people feel they are to hate those who hate them & love those who love them. In verse 45 when we love our enemies & pray for our persecutors, we are then children of our Father. The God we follow is the God who makes the sun to rise on the evil & the good & sends the rain on the just & the unjust. When we love our enemies & pray for our persecutors, we manifest the same grace that God shows to all humans. It is God’s grace that will lead people to repentance.

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about manifesting to others the same grace that God shows to us.

 

These commands that Jesus gives us in the Sermon on the Mount are countercultural. They do not follow the norm of any culture. No culture is in line with God’s will & when we live out the truth of God’s word, we will come in conflict with the culture. We have to decide how we will live: according to what our culture says or according to Jesus’ commands & thus live counterculturally.

 

Living Counterculturally & Raising the Roof & Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe

Jesus In the Old Testament Stories

 

I love the stories in the Old Testament. A man being swallowed by a big fish, a flood that reboots the earth, a band that brings the walls of a city crashing down to the ground & those are just a few. It is at times hard to believe that they could really happen. But even more then believing them is understanding what God’s purpose behind them is. That is why as we read the New Testament & the clear revelation of who Jesus is, is such a grace gift. What God does in the Old Testament makes sense when we learn about the things that Jesus does & says in the New Testament.

 

First, there is Jonah being swallowed by a big fish. God wanted to save a sinful broken people of Nineveh, but Jonah hated the Ninevites & ran the other way. But God allowed a storm to come up the boat & he was thrown overboard & swallowed by a big fish & he stayed in the fish for three days, just like Jesus in the tomb. Then Jonah got resurrected by being barfed upon the shore. He went to Nineveh & preached & God brough spiritual awakening.

 

This foreshadowed what Jesus did:

Humanity rebelled against God (Ninevites’ unbelief & human’s unbelief)

God made a miraculous way for righteous to be restored (big fish swallowed Jonah & Jesus went to the cross)

God have grace to the people who believed (Ninevites spared when they believed & people save when we believe)

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about God providing a way for sinful broken people to be saved.

 

Noah is told by God to build a big boat that could save people from a worldwide flood. The people had never seen rain & had no idea what a flood was. But Noah obeyed God & built the boat. He endured mocking & reticular, but obeyed God. The people rejected Noah’s message, but Noah & his family were saved by entering into the ark.

 

This foreshadowed what Jesus did:

Humanity rebelled against God (people disobeyed God & we have disobeyed God)

God made a miraculous way for righteousness to be restored (ark was built & Jesus went to the cross)

God gave grace to the people who believed (Noah’s family delivered & we are saved when we believe)

                                                                                                                                             

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about God providing through Jesus a way to deliver people from God’s wrath against sin.

 

Joshua is told by God that Israel will take the city of Jericho, but the battle plan was strange. The people were to walk around the city once a day for six days completely silent. Then on the seventh day the people were to walk around six times still being quiet & then on the seven time to blow the trumpets & all the people were to shouted & the walls would fall in & Israel would take the city. The people obeyed & the walls fell & the city was taken.

 

This foreshadowed what Jesus did:

There was obstacle between God’s will & people (Jericho & sin)

God made a miraculous way for the obstacle to be removed (marching around the city & Jesus on the cross)

God gave grace to the people who believed (the walls fell & sin was atoned for)

 

Raise the Roof & Remove the Walls is about God removing the obstacle of sin through Jesus’ death so we can be saved.

 

Raising the Roof & Removing the Walls,

                           Joe