Sunday Sermon

What Value is the Church? Dave Shaner November 28, 2004

Introduction: What do you look for in a church? People are seeking today perhaps more than ever but truth is not what is at stake with them but an inner sense of well-being. We need to be reminded of who we are and of what our mission is.

I. On This Rock - Matthew 16:13-20

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

A. On this rock, Christ will build His church.

B. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

C. II Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

D. The arguments of the world are subtle and sound convincing.

II. Four Critical Lessons about the Church:

A. The church is to be a __________ _____________ on earth.

B. The church is a ______________ of ____________.

1. Christianity is more than just a private transaction with Jesus.

2. I Peter 2:4-12

As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

C. Therefore, the church belongs to __________.

D. The church will ____________.

III. What happens when the church gives in to consumerism?

A. It ____________ the ____________.

B. It ____________ the ____________ of the church.

C. It ____________ the gospel.

D. It ____________ the church of its ____________.

Conclusion: We cannot keep people in a state of perpetual bliss. What we can do is to be true to his word regardless of the carrot the world holds out in front of us.

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