The Call to the Great Community

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21
Apr '24

The Call to the Great Community 2

Posted on Apr 21, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in General, Sermon Notes, The Call to the Great Community |

21
Apr '24

Lesson #2:

The Church is One in Christ!

 

 

Our new sermon series, “The Call to the Great Community,” is a series of discipleship teachings about the body of Christ and our call to be fellow members of the body of Christ. This is an important call to answer for us individually and corporately for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ (why He came!) for the glory of God. You have a purpose for belonging!

 

The big idea from the first teaching last week was that the church is God’s idea; not mine nor yours! From the Scriptures, we learned that the church is the Body of Christ because we exist for the mission of Jesus to the glory of God. The mission of Jesus is the great rescue mission; He came from Heaven to Earth to show us the way to the Father; this has always been God’s Plan A; therefore, the church exists for the mission – to make Jesus known and to continue His mission, as His body for the glory of God. We have a purpose for belonging!

 

Finally, last week you were invited to find unity with your fellow member by participating in the 150-day Pray the Psalms Discipleship Challenge. Today is Day #7, which means we are praying through Psalm 7. I pray you are finding it meaningful to do this just as you found it meaningful to read through the New Testament together. Belonging doesn’t happen by accident!

 

Today’s big idea: The Church is One in Christ!

 

There are three Scriptures we are going to walk through together so that we can anchor today’s big idea in God’s Word and work out its implications in our everyday discipleship: Truth + Application = Transformation!
 

Romans 12:4-5, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

 

+ How can we demonstrate our unity within our diverse functionality?

 

Ephesians 4:1-6, “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

 

+ How should we treat one another to preserve the unity of the Spirit?

 

John 17:20-26, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

 

+ How do we pray for one another to see the fulfillment of John 17 in us?

 

We are one in Christ! Keep praying through the Psalms so that we experience unity in prayer. There is so much more to learn.
 
 
 

RESOURCES:

 
You can download this week’s notes in a printable PDF format by clicking HERE.
 
If you would like to view the entire broadcast including music, click HERE.
 
 
 

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14
Apr '24

The Call to the Great Community 1

Posted on Apr 14, 2024 by Jerry Ingalls in General, Sermon Notes, The Call to the Great Community |

14
Apr '24

Lesson #1:

The Church is God’s Idea!

 

+ INTRO: “The Call to the Great Community” is a series of messages about the body of Christ and our call to be fellow members of the body of Christ and why that is an important call to answer for us individually and corporately for the sake of the mission of Jesus Christ (why He came!) and the glory of God. 

 

+ The Great Community is the “church” (ekklesia in Acts 11:26), which literally means, “the called out gathering or assembly.” While it can be used to describe any assembly of people, in the New Testament it is the work of the Holy Spirit to ingather those who have been called in Christ for God’s will.

 

+ BODY: The BIG IDEA for today is THE CHURCH IS GOD’S IDEA; NOT MINE OR YOURS!

 

+ Today’s reading from God’s Word comes from Ephesians 1:18-23, where Paul teaches,
 
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

 

1) THE CHURCH is the BODY OF CHRIST!

 

+ The church is an intentional community of disciples who are called in love, gathered for love, and sent on the mission of love. We carry on the great rescue effort of Jesus Christ (Luke 19:10).

 

+ Read short story from LOMT, page 97.

 

+ As we just read, Ephesians 1:22-23. Let us continue to see how this idea is developed in Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:4-8; and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
 
 

2) BECAUSE THE CHURCH EXISTS FOR THE MISSION OF JESUS TO THE GLORY OF GOD

 

+ The Great Commission was given to the church before Jesus’ ascension in Matthew 28:18-20 and then empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill it at Pentecost in Acts 2.

 

+ We must remember WHY the CHURCH exists or we will get off mission and go in maintenance mode – We are called to the Rescue Mission of Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17)!

 

+ We are redeemed to fulfill the Genesis Commission (Genesis 1:26-27) as the heirs of the Abrahamic Promise (Genesis 12:1-3). To bless all things as Ephesians 1:19b-21 proclaims.

 
 

3) THIS IS GOD’S PLAN A!

 

+ Paul started our lesson in Ephesians 1:18-19a.

 

+ Let me remind you of the “so that’s” of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:22-23 (“By this all men will know that you are My disciples”) and His new commandment in John 13:34-35 (“so that the world may know that You sent Me”)? This is the ultimate purpose of all that we do as the church and as a local assembly of believers.

 

+ This is why we gather as the church – to remember and practice that this is God’s BIG IDEA! Read Hebrews 10:19-25.
 
 
CONCLUSION: We have so much to learn together over the course of this sermon series. We are going to pray Jesus’ prayer book together as we study, so I invite you to join me in the 150-Day Pray the Psalms Discipleship Challenge, which starts tomorrow with Psalm 1. Finish your NT and pray in unity.
 
 
 

RESOURCES:

 
You can download this week’s notes in a printable PDF format by clicking HERE.
 
If you would like to view the entire broadcast including music, click HERE.
 
 
 
 

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