Sunday January 02, 2022
https://www.facebook.com/Encountertexoma/videos/985442819037150
INTRODUCTION: “Father what is the word you have for Encounter Church for 2022?
“ARISE!” The following day I received an email from Jim Bober, one of our elders, that had the phrase “ARISE AND BUILD.”
Nehemiah 2:20- “…The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, …”
Encounter Family, our focus for 2022, ARISE AND BUILD!
I want to begin this series talking about “THE ONLY FOUNDATION.”
There’s only ONE foundation to build upon!
(Brief explanation of 1 Corinthians 3- Paul is writing to Christians-A Church)
1 Corinthians 3:9- “For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”
- The Church Belongs to God
This speaks of ownership! Even in the Old Testament, the temple is built not for man but for the Lord God!
Matthew 16:18- “….and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not a biblical understanding of the church. The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” of “called-out ones.”
This leads to the second point.
2. The Church is people
“And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.”
Paul use of the metaphors referring to the people as a “field” and a “building” expresses that the church is not a structure but an assembly of those who are “in Christ.”
Paul uses the second person plural in the verse: “And you (plural) are God’s field. You (plural) are God’s building.”
THE PLURAL IS USED AGAIN IN THE FOLLOWING SCRIPTURES
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
I think we might need to take the church a little more seriously than we do!
Attending the gathering of God’s children has never been an option for me and my family. Even in our worst day when it seemed like everything was falling apart.
If you raise your children that connecting in the assembly of believers is whether they feel like it or not you will lower their view of God.
It’s impossible to teach them the fullness of God without also teaching them they need to be connected and worshipping God with other believers and serving other believers.
YOU ARE GOD’S BUILDING AND GOD IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH!
NOW I’LL GET TO MY TEXT
1 Corinthians 3:10-11- “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.”
THIS IS EXCITING- I have the opportunity to be part of something that’s bigger than just me! You have the opportunity to be part of something that’s bigger than just you! WE have the opportunity to partner with GOD in building!
ARISE AND BUILD!!! BUT
THE ONLY FOUNDATION IS JESUS CHRIST! Everything we do points to Jesus Christ!
WHAT ARE THESE VERSES TELLING US?
3. Jesus Christ is Supreme
Colossians 1:18- “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.”
Does it make sense to say: Watch out what kind of windows you use because the foundation is Christ!
Does it make sense to say: Watch out what kind of roof you build because the foundation is Christ?
Does it make sense to say: Watch out what kind of wiring you use because the foundation is Christ!
Yes it does make sense because the foundation controls the shape and quality of the building!
And that is the point: There is only one foundation: Christ. And who he is controls the shape and quality of the church.
Not only is Jesus at the bottom of it all holding it up; his influence must be utterly pervasive. It spreads through the whole building!
Everywhere you turn in the church, wherever anybody is teaching anything or building anything, we must see the mark of Jesus Christ!
God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation. So no one can lay any other foundation.
BE CAREFUL HOW YOU BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION OF JESUS CHRIST!
CLOSING: Encounter Family, let us be vigilant to keep Christ as the foundation of our church.
Let’s make sure that the building blocks of our doctrine follow the beautiful contours of our foundation and not go off and try to make some little porch on the side that has no foundation under it. That’s the Jesus “plus” Gospel!
Let’s take the attitudes of our church and set them down on the lines of the foundation and see where we might be off-base and in need of correction.
And let’s bring all our ministries and all our building plans and all the financial goals and lay them like a transparency over the blueprint of our foundation, Jesus Christ (that we have in the Bible); and let’s ask: do they fit? Do the lines match up?
Let Christ be the one and only foundation of Encounter Church! Let his influence be utterly pervasive in all we do!
WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYING TO YOU THROUGH THIS MESSAGE?