Pastor Robert and TaQuaris Smith
Paster Robert: Praise the Lord. Actually, I was just sitting there thinking that not a better song, more perfect song to preach on what we are preaching today. So stay tuned. You know, it's a pleasure. I've been listening to Sister Reverend Tammy sing for many, many, many years. And sister, I have to say that you have grown tremendously in your singing. The command of your voice has become very crisp and sound, and so it's been a very blessing to hear her minister over the years. Amen. Amen.
We are excited about, uh, giving the word today, but I'm also excited about something I get to do for the first time today. The pastors we've agreed to, to honor people when we get up and speak. We are excited today to honor someone that we admire a whole lot. I just don't have the words to, to express that. But I don't know if he can run down here because he is quite a busy person, but we like to take the time to honor our brother, Joel Trobridge.
Come stand right here, Joel. Joel is our supreme audio engineer, amongst other things on our media production team. The reason why Pastor Brian, Jeff, and I get to sound good every week is because of this man right here. But from day one that I stepped in this church, Joel has become a great friend and good brother and a faithful servant. When I think of faithfulness, especially in this particular gathering, Joel is one of the first people that come to my mind.
TaQuaris: He is also very humble, a humble servant. He sits in the background, but he does so much for this church.
Paster Robert: The amount of hours that he spends here convicts me. I have an office here, and I don't know if I've spent an hour in that office since I've been here, but the amount of hours that this brother spends here. I don't want to embarrass him, but even overnight to make sure that he is here serving this ministry. It is admirable and honorable. Joel, we want to take this time to honor you today and say thank you for being example of a servant in this house. We pray that you are here for many, many years, Lord. And the Lord placed on my heart to tell you that you are harder on yourself than the Lord himself is harder on you. He wants you to enter into a season of rest in his grace, and to confirm to you that he has you and he has heard your heart cry, and you will not be left wanting. You are going to come out of this season stronger and more fervent in the Lord. Even those hard places where you have tried to open up, don't fret in his timing, he is going to open those doors. And the people that you have a heart to minister to, they will come in like a flood and you will have the capacity to do what God has called you to do. And I just pray that you are a comforter in that this morning.
Joel, we are due for lunch, so let's put it on the calendar. That's a lot of you. We are still behind on the docket with getting in fellowship with you, so it'll happen. Praise the Lord. Oh man. I know Pastor Brian has something that you wanted to say and preach so much. It's in your dreams. You could barely sleep because it's such bottled up. The subject that we have for you today is something that's very dear to me. it's concerning the church. I found myself the last few years saying I'm a church guy.
That's not a popular thing today because people have this misconception and misunderstanding about that term, church. Before the world began, God had a plan to reconcile himself to those that was sin against him. This would be accomplished by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And because of this sacrifice, now sinners are saved and their sins are forgiven, and they become part of what we call the body of Christ. And that body of Christ is also called the church.
What does that word church mean? Over the years, the word church has become synonymous with a building that we come to. And if you have talked to me on occasion, not trying to be smug or anything like that, but occasion, I may say, no, the building is not the church, so we are going to the building that houses the church. That's just something I've been intentional about over the last few years. And so that becomes a part of my vocabulary that the building is not the church. But we'll speak more about that a little later.
What does the word church mean? Well, the English word church that we have today comes from a compound Greek word, however you pronounce it, some pronounce it Ecclesia, some Ecclesia. I'm not a Greek expert. Sorry. I got out of seminary right before that was a mandatory two-year tract. That would've meant two more years of seminary. But after three years, I was ready to go. Being a teacher of the word, especially in the New Testament, you can't get away from the Greek in order to rightly divide, so I'm very familiar with the word ecclesia. It's a compound word, meaning there is two words, root words, they are put together.
Just for basic terms, the root meaning means to call out. Over the centuries, uh, even in the New Testament, that word, Ecclesia, has become synonymous with assembly, people being assembled together. Ecclesia could also just stand for people that are assembled together. But when it comes to the church, it takes on the meaning of those that are assembled in the name of Jesus, those that have been called out by Jesus as his followers, as his disciples, as we gather together our fellowship together, that assembly is the church. Amen. Amen. Church is important as a matter of fact. It is very vital in the entire Bible story. We want to read Ephesians chapter five, verses 25 through 26 to see how Jesus feels about the church.
TaQuaris: For husbands, this means love your wise just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word.
Paster Robert: We've read the scripture many times, and the focus has been about the husbands, the command for the husbands to about loving their wives and how that's synonymous with Christ loving the church. But I don't want us to miss the heart of this message: Christ loved the church. Just as the wife is the heart of the husband, the church is at the very heart of the gospel story for my Lord. And that's why we want to talk about today, why Jesus built the church. Let's go to Matthews gospel, chapter 16
Verses 13 through 18: When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he accessed disciples, who do people say that the son of man is? Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah and others say, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Then he asked them, but who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, you are blessed Simon's son of John, because my father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter, which means rock. And upon this rock I will build my church. And all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
Paster Robert: We want to get into this passage to understand, what did Jesus mean by saying, you are Peter, which when translated, means rock, Petros, and on this rock, I will build my church. Well, he is making a word play, a play on words. Peter, Petros and rock. In that passage, there are two different Greek words that are used for rock. When he calls out for Peter's name, it's Petros, and the other time he mentions rock is a different Greek word, Petros. Both mean rock or stone. What Jesus is actually saying is that you are a rock or stone, but on a different stone, a foundation stone, I will build my church. Peter, this is what your name means, but Peter, you are not the foundation that I'm going to build my church. Let me tear down that religious lie.
I'm sorry to bust your religious bubble, but Peter's not going to be at the pearl gates ushering into heaven. I don't want to see Peter in the sense that when I go to that transition; I want to see Jesus first. If I see Peter first, we’ve got a problem. Peter is not the foundation that the church would be built on. But what is that foundation? That's what we want to get into. Let's go to the scriptures again.
TaQuaris: 1st Corinthians chapter 3, verses 10 through 11: because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now, others are building on it, but whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have, Jesus Christ.
Paster Robert: We see here the scripture is sin about this foundation that the church is going to be built on is Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation for which the church can be, was or should be built on. Let's continue 1st Peter
TaQuaris: 1st Peter chapter 2, verse 6. For in the scripture it says, see, Isaiah Stone and Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Nowadays, we tend to overlook the importance of a cornerstone because we can use so many constructive devices to help keep a building leveled. However, long ago when builders were planning our projects, the importance of the cornerstone made all the difference because the orientation and the angle of the cornerstone determined how well the rest of the building will be built. If the building was not aligned with the cornerstone, then the walls and the corners and everything else will be skewed. When we read that Jesus is a cornerstone, that just means he is our true and right foundation. Whatever is built in alignment with him will be true and right as well. Jesus, he ensures the stability of the entire system of our salvation. I want to repeat that. He ensures the stability of the whole system of our salvation because it's him who is building a church. He owns the church; it belongs to him. The apostles and the other Christians, they, they just supporting roles. They are important, but it's Jesus who has the lead role.
Paster Robert: Peter confessed that Jesus is the son of God. That was Jesus' identity. That is the key to lay the whole foundation of what will be established. As Jesus told Peter, this is the revelation that the Lord gave you. No man told you this, but the Holy Spirit guided you in this. Now he said, this is what I'm going to build my church on, that Jesus Christ is the longer awaited Messiah. He is the anointed one. He is the chosen of God. He is the one by no other name, shall there be salvation except through him. This is the foundation that I will build my church.
What does Jesus consider to be the church? We gave you a meaning of the church, but what does-- better yet, who does Jesus considered to be the church? This is important what the idea of ecclesia is vital, and that those that are called out under Jesus' name are those that accepted, has gotten this revelation that Peter has, has gone to Jesus to ask for the forgiveness of their sins, have accepted the sacrifice, and now they call him Lord. All those that are gathering his name, who call them Lord and whose sins are forgiven, that's who Jesus considers the church.
Like Pastor Bryan was saying early in the welcome, it's not about denomination, it's not about a religion, it's not about a tribe, it's not about an organization. It's all of those who are called out by Jesus' name. Jesus is the one that does the calling. The church is the ones who have responded to that call. There can be no church without the caller and can be no church without the called. You have the caller Jesus and the called those who've responded to the call who serve Jesus as Lord. That's the church, and that's who Jesus considers the church.
TaQuaris: You said what I was going to say. I rest.
Paster Robert: So many people today, in their vocabulary, they have this tradition of saying that I'm going to church. Let's talk about that for a little bit about going to church. Many people can go to a building, and sit in a building, in a chair, in a building, and Jesus still not considered him part of the church. It's important coming to the building for the sake of assembling together, but that those that are called, who have a relationship with the Lord. Remember, Lord, he is our savior. He is forgiven us of our sins, but he is Lord of our life. What does that mean? That he is the measuring rod, he is the plum line of our lives. Where we base the standard and the value and the guidelines of our lives has to do with our relationship in Jesus.
That's why about four or five years ago, God gave me the theme of being in Christ. I even led a fellowship during the covid time during the lockdown, a Bible fellowship. It was called in Christ. As the Lord took me on this journey of in Christ every scripture in the New Testament that I read, it always has something to do with being in Christ. Because it's important for us to understand that, to be a part of the church, to be alive in the church, we have to be in Christ. Christ is the head of the church. Let me say that again. Christ is the head of the church. Therefore, everything that calls itself a part of that body has to follow the head, which is Jesus. Jesus is the director of the church. He is the great shepherd.
Pastors are called shepherds; we are under shepherds. We are only stewards of the great shepherd. But our actions, our behavior, our teaching, our relationships with you have to mimic the Great shepherd because he is the head of this body. As the head goes, so does the body. As Jesus goes, so does the church. Being a part of a church, we have to get out of this attitude of being a part of an organization or a denomination or a building.
TaQuaris: Or just because you make the choice to come to church on a regular basis or doing all the necessary things in church, what we call servanthood. That doesn't mean that you have a real relationship with Christ. This means a lot to me because I believe that we should be demonstrating the character of Jesus in our everyday life. It doesn't matter if we come to church and shout and dance and sing. How are you living outside of this? How are you living on your jobs? How are you living in a grocery store? How do you treat your husband and your kids? I'm not trying to go a different course, Robert, but it's very important because sometimes we get into the mysteries of Christ as far as the gifts and the talents, and we think because people have gifts and talents that make them a believer of Christ. We are made in the image of Christ; God gave us that whether we trusted him or not. It's embodying Jesus' character, producing the fruits of the Spirit. That's what makes the difference. Loving Pastor Bryan talks about this all the time, loving people every day. And you don't even have to beat them over the head with the Bible. It's how you treat people is very important as the church that we demonstrate the character of Jesus Christ.
Paster Robert: And she said she didn't have anything else to say. We are blessed as the church because of the knowledge of Jesus Christ that we have. We have the unique vantage point of this side of the testaments of the covenant. The church was a mystery for humanity, but God, through Jesus, has been unfolding this mystery of the church throughout history. That's why a lot of you that are here, my faithful Zoom partners, soon to be hybrid. We are going to meet in person. The building blocks of the faith is a Bible group that we have every other Wednesday here at Hope community. They know that we talk about the, the complete narrative of the Bible story, the complete narrative of the gospel.
The gospel didn't just happen. God has always wanted to establish relationship and reconciliation with his creation. God has been unfolding the mystery of the church throughout history. It started even when it was prophesied way back in Genesis when it said the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. It continued on through the Bible and the scriptures with the selection of a God following family through Abraham. It continued even through the giving of the law through Moses. It also continued going through all of the ups and downs and obedience and disobedience of Israel to God. That's why we praised God, because Jesus is the fulfillment of Israel. Jesus is true Israel.
If you ever wanted to understand what God wanted through Israel, Jesus is it. That's why Jesus said on the cross, "it is finished" because all the promises to Israel, all the promises that God wanted to reveal through Israel, the nation is revealed through Jesus Christ. Iyou want to know more about that, join us on Wednesday nights. We've been having a good time going through Jesus through the entire Old Testament, and we've gone through several books explaining and revealing Jesus through the Old Testament. I wanted to take a break, but Sister Linda said she was going to throw stones at me, so we are going to continue through the summer. Praise God. We want to look at now, um, about this mystery of the church that was revealed through Christ as we go to Ephesians chapter 3.
TaQuaris: Verses 1 through 10. When I think of all of this, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles, assuming by the way that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you, Gentiles. As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his spirit, he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets. This is God's plan. Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the richest inherited by God's children, both are part of the same body. Both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ's Jesus. By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this good news.
Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the creator of all things, have kept secret from the beginning. God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom and its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his internal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Paster Robert: Wow. There is a lot in there. We could spend a lot of time going through the scripture. But Paul is letting it be known, which was a welcome message to the Gentiles who have been outside of the blessing of God. One of the biggest problems we have in the so-called church throughout the world is identity. A lot of major fights and struggles is concerning identity. That's why we have these different denominational breakouts. We have these different sexes, these different cults, these different offshoots. Everybody is vying for identity basically just to say I'm better than you or I'm more special than you. Even when Jesus was with his disciples, there was this inner talk amongst them about how can I be placed in a different rank from amongst my other brothers?
I've seen people over the years leave Christianity to become Jewish because we've gone on this, this journey of we are trying to get to our Jewish roots. To be a better Christian, we've got to get in touch with the Jewishness of Jesus. Baloney. Pastor Jacque, I had to think of a nice word to say. Thank you. My people, I hope your hearts and your ears are open, and that after today you get a better appreciation of the church in the heart of God towards the church. The church is a powerful institution. I don't care what the world says to you today, and if only we could realize who we are in Christ. But I want to tell you today who we are not, who the church is not.
Jesus came to tear down the walls of separation between Jew and Gentile. God had a plan for all people to come under Christ. Therefore, now it doesn't matter to Jesus. If you are a Jew, if you are a Catholic, if you are a Baptist, if you are Methodist, if you are Pentecostal, if you are all these other different names and labels that we have. What he cares about is that you look like him, and that you follow him. You follow his teachings and you make other disciples that do the same thing. We don't have to cleave onto another identity to secure our positions in Jesus. The body of Christ is made up of all people, all walks of life who have made the decision to call Jesus Lord.
TaQuaris: Because it's God's master plan. Because Jesus is building it. And it's an assembly composed of those who are called out, the called ones. It's free from social, racial, cultural, or gender barriers. Because God's plan is to establish and extend his kingdom on earth. He never intended the church to be a material building, a denomination, a nationalistic enterprise or an extension of Judaism. The church is to mimic what we call the commission that Christ gave the disciples in Matthew 28: 8 through 20. I'm going to read that Jesus came and told his disciples, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you, and be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
There is not a more honorable purpose than to invite others to know Christ. We do this in part by making sure that we faithfully represent Christ and also by being who he called us to be. Because the church is called to manifest the Holy Spirit in us by embodying Jesus' character and telling others about him. God has chosen to use communities of redeemed men and women of flesh and blood examples of the transforming power of His Holy Spirit and of his glory.
Paster Robert: The great thing about the church not being a building that the church or the people, is that we have the power of mobility. As a believer in Christ, wherever you go, you bring the church. If you think about that, when we go to complain about our politicians and our institutions, both academic and social, we don't blame them. They are doing what they are called to do in the flesh. Where is the church? Oh we are here on Sunday. And that's the extent of our church experience.
This is a time to come to corporate worship, to praise God for who he is and what he has done in our lives. For us to intercede for one another as we come into a corporate space and in so many ways to give marching orders for the rest of the week for us to go out and make a difference in the world as Pastor Jeff and Cheryl talked about last time go out being salt and light in the world. If we are just in this building, that light is hidden. That's right. Because we have walls that block light. We have a little light coming in, but our light is to shine. It's to go out and shine. Our salt is to go out and shake things up, to influence.
Praise God that we can go and carry the light of Christ wherever we go and influence wherever we go and know that we can have victories because of our headship, Jesus. I don't know any more powerful head than that, than of Jesus. In light of that, quit bashing the church. The church is powerful. The church is precious to Jesus. But see, what we bash is really not the church. That's why sometimes in conversation I have, I say the so-called church because the church looks like Jesus. But unfortunately, what many of us has experienced is a counterfeit; it's not the church. My prayer is that Hope Community reflects the true nature of the church. That starts from each and every one of us to be truly transformed in our heart. As we have been preaching as a theme, follow the ways of Jesus. When we do that, then we put on the true and portray the true nature of what Jesus calls the church. We have one last scripture that we want to give you and then we'll conclude.
TaQuaris: Ephesians chapter two, verses 14 through 20, for Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with his commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups together as one body. Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this good news of peace to you Gentiles, who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. So now, you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. Together, we are His house built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, and the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.
As far as the context of the Jew and Gentile, what a wonderful message. The Bible calls it good news. The Jews became very nationalistic and prideful because they obtained the secrets of God and the Gentiles were looking like, what would be our entry into having fellowship with the creator. Left up to the Jews at the time, they would have to go through all these different rules and regulations and qualifications. That was a stumbling block to the Jews. Same thing today with the church. The message today to the church is to not disqualify people from the church because of all the rules and the regulations that become a stumbling block to those who have not followed them, but instead give the good news that Jesus has borne our sins. And because of that, we have the opportunity to become one body, to come through Christ, through the same spirit without rules and regulations, to join a club, without rules and regulations to join a body, but to freely accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who shared his blood for all of mankind, not just one group of people, and that we repent.
Repentance is still part of it because I hear the religious folks in the background saying, well, you know, we can't just allow anyone to come. Yes, we can. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict the sinner because no one can get saved without the conviction of the Holy Spirit anyway. There is no need to post rules and regulations to convict the sinner. It's the Holy Spirit's job because instead of rules and regulation that is now New Testament believers, that's how we are to govern our lives anyway. God didn't want us to stay with Stone Commandments. That was embarrassing to God that his creation would have to have stone tablets to remind them of how to be godlike. That was not God's destiny for his creation.
It wasn't just something that happened with Jesus on the cross. God prophesied that through his prophets throughout the entire whole testament. He prophesied a day that all his people would come together and that those laws that will be written will be written not on stone tablets, but be written in their hearts. That has always been in God's mind for his people. So therefore, no one is without excuse because it was already prophesied through the mouth of God, that's what he wanted. But man, when man gets involved and man establishes religious systems-- religious system is not about including or coming together or-- I had one person defend religion and said, it says to bind together. Yeah, it means to bind together under a yoke of bondage. God never wanted us to be bound together under a yoke of bondage. He wanted us to have a free expression of a love response to him and through our love response for your religious folks who worried about people behaving a certain way, yes, when you come to Christ and you fellowship in Christ, there will be behavior modification through your relationship through Christ, not through a task master. Because how many of you have been through school and you did the exact opposite of what the teacher told you to do Even if you got the ruler, you still did it again. And when you stop doing it is when your heart and your mind are transformed and changed and you said, that's not the way I should go.
Let me speak to you, holy people again, the sinless holy people. Before, when we were all in sin, we didn't have a choice. We were a slave to sin. Now that you are in Christ, you have a choice to sin. You choose whether to sin or not, but you are able to make the choice because you have the conviction of the holy one that's with you. I'll say it again, Miss Ruby. You have the choice now because you have Holy Spirit that resides in you. It doesn't reside in a building that comes upon you. You have the spirit of the living God in you that convicts you, that teaches you, that guides you, that warns you, that corrects you, that comforts you, that teaches you that loves you. And when you respond to that, then you respond in a Christlike way. You respond with the fruit of the spirit. Outside of that, there is no relationship. Outside of that, there is no church. It's only religious rituals. Yeah. Mundane acts, appearing to be certain way. But there is no Christ church.
relationship. Christ. Listen to what the scripture tells us. Why in the world would Jesus compare the church and mourn and marriage? You ever thought about that? How more intimate of a relationship between man and woman can you get than marriage, than husband and wife? A good, healthy marriage is one that mirrors the relationship between Jesus and the church. And let me unveil another mystery. That's why the Lord instituted marriage in the first place so that we would have a walking viable Yes. Living, breathing example of how Christ loves the church.
If you want to improve your marriage relationship, study how Jesus loved the church. Husbands, you want to be a better husband, love your wife as Christ loved the church. If you don't know what that means, the pastors here will be glad to share that with you. Wives, if you want to be a better wife, see how the church is to respond to Jesus. What was the purpose of this message? One is to get you to understand that the church is not just some frivolous things. I want to elevate your value Yes. Of the church, but I also want you to identify the true church is.
I also want to tear down these partitions that we put up of separation that Jesus already tore down. You know, if you don't know, you don't know. But once you know, you have an accountability issue to change, to do better, and to teach others. We have many people that are struggling with identity, wanting to join this organization or the other, or think they gotta do something that's unnecessary. And we made church, or becoming part of church, just something that we've already been freed from.
Many times, when I see what's happening around us, I feel like the Apostle Paul when he spoke to the Galatians, the infamous who has bewitched you, what does that mean? what was Paul getting at? Because he had did the work of, of bringing the gospel to the churches in Galatia. there were people that would come behind Paul and poison the will by teaching. Paul preached liberty in Christ through grace. And then you will have those that were tried to bring them back under the teachings of Judaism and bind, bind them to the law. And in order to follow Jesus, they, they had to follow the law in Jesus. Paul already said, no, that's not what God has called you to do. But there would be people that would be influenced by these false teachers that would come. And Paul says, "why would you receive the good news of the gospel that taught you the liberty through the spirit in Christ, and then align yourself up again to.
Paul said, Paul equates that to you. A sorcerer is coming to cast a spell on you. That's what Paul is saying. Why would you do that? And so my question to the church today is, when you've already accepted the gift in Jesus Christ, why would you connect yourself again to the yoke of religious institution? Why would you do that? In short, I'll answer for you. Because there has been a lack of understanding of the true nature. Yes. Of the church period. I'm not condemning, is that we still have opportunity to grow, to understand this great gift that God has given us through Christ. And that's why you can never go wrong. Learning more and more about Jesus. That is something to uncover deeper and deeper as you continue to study Jesus. So church, I want to leave you with this love Christ and allow him to love on you. Seek Christ and allow him to direct you. Be Christ, and you'll change the world. You'll change the world. That's the power that the church has to change the world. I know it looks daunting, but Jesus overcame the world and his church can too.
TaQuaris: Take some time this week to just sit in the presence of the Holy Spirit and ask him for direction on how to manifest his power in our everyday lives. Just this week, well, not just this week of course, but specifically this week, just take time to listen to the spirit of God. Allow him to direct you because I'm sure there is someone out there that we have make ourselves more available and humble ourselves and take the time to really hear him and being led by his spirit.
There is another thing that's kind of on my heart that I've been saying this a lot. I got this from Pastor Brian because there is so many different things that we are dealing with in the world. Some, like you said earlier, sometimes we have a lot of disappointments. We want to fix everything and everybody, and sometimes we want to be Christ this week start saying, I give everything and everybody to Christ because we can't fix everything. You know, you have issues with our kids. It that really deals with our heart issues on a job or whatever it the case may be something impossible or maybe it's we don't understand a direction that God is taking our lives even in that, let's humble ourselves and give everything and everybody over to Christ, but also making ourselves available to be used by him.
Father, we just thank you, thank you Jesus for the church. And thank you as the church, the true church is built upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, that we would move aside all of our agendas, all of our man led programs and allow you to build upon the great foundation. Lord, we thank you for giving us Jesus. It's that ultimate sacrifice so that we can be with you throughout all eternity. Thank you, God, for having a heart for your whole entire creation. Lord, you didn't want one, not one segment of people to be left out, but there had to be a doorway made open to bring the invitation to the entire world.
That invitation came through Jesus Christ for you said in your word, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that the world would not be condemned through him, but through him and in Him the world might obtain eternal life. Thank you for that opportunity and thank you for using the church to spread your glorious, good news throughout this entire world. Thank you for those in the church that have gone before us who's even given their lives for the spread of this gospel. We thank you for your apostles and their faithful teachings throughout the generations.
We thank you for the admonishment not to deviate from the scriptures, from the teaching. And we pray even today that you will deliver us Lord from every false teaching and every wolf that will try to come in to deceive your body. And Father, we pray and uplift for uplift all the under shepherds that tend to your flock. We pray that you strengthen them. We pray that you would continue to fix their eyes upon you and settle their hearts to continue their course. And we bless you Lord, in Jesus mighty name.
Pastor Brian: I was thinking as Pastor Robert was sharing the difference between the military and God. The military is looking for a few good men. God is looking for all mankind. God is looking for everyone. His eyes look to and throughout the whole world to try and find people whose hearts will be inclined to him to bless them, to call them. And when we encounter people we've never met before, one of the things we can know is that God has a heart for them. God has already been working on them. And so we don't have to ask the Lord, do you want me to share your good news with this person? I wonder if they are part of the called.
Yes, they are a part because we are all called. So thank you Robert. Again, great message. Let's stand together. Let's just take this wonderful, good news. Sometimes, I feel like the message we've been taught historically through the church has not been a very good message and therefore we are reluctant to share it. But the message that we've been shown this morning is good news. It's the good news of Jesus Christ, that he is come for all people, longing all people to be saved. No dividing between us.
Jesus has come to remove the divisions and remove the stumbling blocks and remove all those things that would keep us from knowing him. He has removed it all. So Father, I thank you in Jesus' name that you have done a finished complete work. Nothing needs to be added to it. Lord, a work that has done away with all of the striving and all of the climbing the ladders, to earn your favor or to earn your approval, you removed it all. You changed the, you changed the message to a message that says, you already have my approval. I love you now. Believe in me, trust in me, trust that I will do what I've said I will do.
So I just thank you Jesus, that we have this treasure within us. As Paul says, in these earth and vessels, we have this treasure, this treasure of eternal life to bring to people that will make a difference in this world. We can be difference-makers. Help us start with our own lives, our own families, our own communities, our own region. But Lord, I do pray for a worldwide transformation to come because people know you. We ask this in your name.
Let's raise our hands together. And now may the Lord bless you and may the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you his peace. May the Lord turn his face towards you and just give you a never-ending peace. This, we pray in the name of the Father, son, holy Spirit. Amen.
Before you leave, we will have people to pray with you at the altar if you would like prayer for anything. And Shawn and Sherry will be over here to my right, you are left, to serve communion to anybody who'd like to receive communion this morning. God bless you. Have a wonderful day and we'll hopefully see you next week, Memorial weekend. Let's remember Jesus on Memorial weekend. God bless you.
Transcript taken from the Sunday morning service 5-21-23. If you would like to watch the full service, click the link below.