All posts by Athol Barnes

Athol Barnes is the Senior Pastor at Grace Point Baptist church in Kansas City, Missouri. Born in South Africa, as a son of a pastor, Athol became a follower of Jesus at an early age. He studied and worked as a mechanical engineer for almost 14 years before being called into fulltime Christian mission work. Emigrating to the USA in 2000 with his wife Debbie, Athol has served as the Director of Project Management at Adventures in Missions between 2004 and 2009, and a Discipleship training school leader with Youth with a Mission and Call2all from 2009 till 2014. In 2014 Athol graduated with a MATS degree from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In the same year, Grace Point called Athol to be their Senior Pastor. Athol has a heart for missions and seeing the Great Commission fulfilled in our lifetime. He is passionate about seeing the church on mission, being and doing what Jesus called the church to do. Athol and Debbie were married in 1996 in South Africa and have two adopted Children, Christine and Joshua.
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Letters to the Churches part 3

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Today, more than 380 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. Persecution has always been a hallmark of the Christian church. Sadly, most believers in North America have very little knowledge of what is happening to our brothers and sisters around the world.

Over the last year, we have sent out a couple and a family to two different countries, both of which are listed as a place where it is dangerous to share the Gospel. These are our family members, and they have gone to the hard places of the world to share the incredibly Good News.

Persecution has always been the refining fire of the church. By God’s grace, the American church might soon experience persecution, it might be just what we need.

In Revelation 2, Jesus wrote a letter to the church in Smyrna. Today this city is called Izmir in Western Turkey.

The name Smyrna means “bitter”, related to the word myrrh, which is an aromatic resin which comes from a thorn tree. For the aroma to be released, the branches need to be crushed. Such a significant picture for the persecuted church.

Smyrna was an important center of the Roman imperial cult, and anyone refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord would be excluded from business. This would mean unemployment and abject poverty.

You are Seen

Jesus begins in verse 9 with the words, “I know your tribulation…”

This is a promise that is echoed throughout the scriptures. Our God sees. There is no pain, suffering or persecution that God does not see and that He will not make right, either in this world or the next. Jesus does not simply look down on us disconnected from our suffering, he intercedes for us, and one day will return to bring everlasting justice.

Revelation 2:9, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slanderof those who say that they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Jesus recognized their poverty, but he said that they are rich. When we grasp that we are part of the Kingdom of heaven and the incredible promises of Jesus, we will begin to understand the riches that we have. Riches that far exceed the world of bank accounts, houses, cars and other temporal things (see 2 Corinthians 8:9).

Not only were the Christians in Smyrna poor, but they were also being slandered. The Greek word used for slander here, is better translated as blasphemy. Jesus said, that when people slander the church, they are slandering him. Blasphemy is to disrespect God. Jesus takes slander of the church very seriously.

Jesus called these slanderers, the “synagogue of Satan”. These were Jews who did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. These unbelieving Jews were being used by Satan to persecute the Church.

Most of the persecution the early church faced came from the Jewish community. Even most of the Roman persecution was an effort to appease the Jewish authorities

What a comfort to know that when we are slandered for being a follower of Jesus, we don’t have to defend ourselves or try to argue back, rather, we can rest in the knowledge that Jesus is our defender. As we are reminded in Ephesians 6, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Satan uses people to accomplish his purposes.

Do not Fear

Jesus continued in verse 10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

The suffering was about to get worse, but Jesus instructs them no to fear (see Matthew 6:31-33).

Today, anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders worldwide. Anxiety contributes to a myriad of health problems, increased mortality, obesity, heart disease, cancer and much more. We are a fearful generation, yet we have incredible wealth, medical care, comfort and convenience all around. Satan loves to prey on our fears, feeding us with things to be afraid of, many of which will never amount to anything.

When we take our eyes off the Lord our faith weakens, fear creeps in and consumes us (see Matthew 10:28 and Psalm 56:11). The fear of the Lord always defeats the fear of man.

How big is your God?

Be Faithful

Jesus told the church in Smyrna that even though Satan was going to have some of them imprisoned, God is in control, and their tribulation was temporal.

The encouragement of Jesus to the church is to be faithful, stay standing, even unto death

It doesn’t matter what the doctor says, or your boss says, or the government may say, we can stay faithful because of the one who died and rose again for our sins. Being faithful is standing firm, trusting in the Word of God and it’s promises.  

What anxious thoughts are consuming you?

The world has no shortage of things we are told to be afraid of. But today, the promise of Jesus is that if we stand firm, we have eternal life because Jesus has already won the victory.

What fear is hindering you from walking in freedom and peace?

Sermons

Letters to the Churches Part 2

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Do you really love Jesus and his church?

As we look at the first of the seven letters that Jesus wrote to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, we will start with the letter to the church in Ephesus.

The Successful Church (v. 2, 3 and 6)

This first century church in modern day Turkey was one of the favorites of the apostles. Paul pastored this church along with Timothy and John. This congregation had a legacy of being one of the most fruitful and well-known Gentile churches.

We see that they were a church that served well, doing the work of the Lord. They probably had a calendar full of events and church activities. They were a church that sacrificed and labored even under intense persecution. In spite of the hardship, the Lord commended them on several things that they were doing well.

The Ephesian church rightly tested false apostles and refused to let them teach. This struggle is relevant for us; daily there are ample false teachers who post videos online and gain millions of followers. The only way we will be able to identify and warn against false teaching is by knowing the truth found in God’s Word.

Jesus continues to commend them in verse 6 saying, “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate”.

The Nicolaitans were a sect of the early church who persuaded people to abuse the grace of God and promoted sexual immorality. In addition, the Greek word Nicolaitan means “to conquer people”. And it is suggested that their leaders used their authority to abuse and control the people. This, too, is relevant for us, as we have seen countless examples of leaders who abuse their authority. The root of this is pride; God opposes prideful leaders.

The church in Ephesus appeared to be doing well: their doctrine was sound; their ministry was seemingly fruitful. But something was off. Despite these commendations, Jesus had a problem with this church.

The Failing Church (v. 4)

This model church seems to have lost their “why”. They had lost their first love, the reason why they were doing all they were doing. They were busy with activity and bearing good fruit, but their passion for Jesus had gotten lost in their good works. Jesus points out the ailment and then gives a prescription.

The Prescription for the Church (v 5)

Jesus offers a three-step prescription to remedy their sickness of forgotten first love.

1. Remember: When a married couple forgets the love that drew them together at first and takes each other for granted, the marriage is in danger. Nostalgia can be effective medicine for failing love in romantic relationships, and the same is true in our relationship with Jesus. Jesus tells the church to remember – and keep on remembering! A daily reminder of the grace and love of Christ that drew us to himself is an antidote for fading passion for Jesus.

2. Repent: Jesus instructed the church to repent because they were taking the grace of God for granted. They were neglecting the love of a relationship with their Savior. Even though their external works looked good, Jesus still wanted them to repent for their internal apathy.

3.   Do: Jesus called them back to the disciplines they did when they first were saved—worship, prayer, meditating on the word of God, and sharing the Gospel; all the spiritual disciplines that came so naturally when they first believed.

The Warning for Our Church

What happens when we lose our first love for Christ? We see tasks and duty in place of adoration and worship. We get burnt out, and serving the Lord becomes a drudgery.

When this happens, many people stop attending worship servicesbecause they are exhausted from doing things for God, but this is counterproductive. It is a lie from the enemy, when we think that separating ourselves from the Body of Christ is the solution for our lack of passion for the Lord.

What we need often requires discipline—pressing into the very things we are tempted to neglect. We are called to encourage one another and spur one another on (see Hebrews 10:24). 1 Corinthians 12 encourages us that we are each valuable and needed parts of the Body; we are all hampered when one piece is missing.

The Comfortable Church

There is a significant distinction between us and the church in Ephesus. The church in Ephesus was undergoing intense persecution as the Roman Empire tried to eradicate the church.

The twenty-first century Western church has it easy in comparison. We have a different problem. I believe that we are losing our first love because of a lack of persecution. It is simply too easy and convenient to be a Christian. Without sacrifice, there is no commitment (see James 1:2-4).

“It is a very remarkable thing that the church of Christ persecuted has been the church of Christ pure. The church of Christ patronized has always been the church of Christ impure.”G. Campbell Morgan

The Application of the Prescription

How are we to “do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:5)?

These are those personal and corporate spiritual disciplines that fuel our growth in love for Jesus and his church. Out of that love will flow acts of service and ministry.

This is works based on an outflow of our love relationship with Jesus. If your first love has grown cold, you will quickly get exhausted, and you will be tempted to quit.

What we do and accomplish is secondary to us knowing Jesus and being conformed into his image.

Oswald Chambers once wrote, “The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain, and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is continually being assailed.”

How do we maintain a healthy heart posture?

When God created the world, he put in place a model for work and rest. One of the most overlooked of the Ten Commandments is the fourth, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”, Exodus 20:8.

Do you set aside a day in the week to worship, rest, pray, and be thankful? It is one thing to have daily rhythms for spending time with the Lord; it is another to cease working and producing for a full twenty-four hours to be filled up in the Lord.

The Reward for the Church(V7)

The prize for getting back to our first love, putting Jesus first in our lives, is the restoration of the access to the tree of life. The paradise that was lost in Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve sinned, will be restored. Eternal life starts the moment you become a follower of Jesus, and the abundant life is available to us now (see John 10:10).

Have you abandoned your first love? What adjustments do you need to make to realign your life today?

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Letters to the Churches part 1

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What is the most important message you have ever been asked to give?

Imagine for a moment the awesome responsibility that the Apostle John had in writing down the Revelation. 

We have spent much of the summer looking at the early church from Acts 2 and answering the question, what are the markers of a healthy church? Ultimately, only Jesus, as the head of the church, defines the health of the church. He is committed to his bride who is preparing herself for the great wedding at the end of time (see Revelation 19).  

Jesus inspects his church, and the seven letters found in Revelation 2 and 3 are a report card on the health of the churches in Asia Minor in 95 AD. While these letters were written to specific churches, they are applicable to all believers, even today. 

The Situation

The beloved disciple and apostle John was a prisoner on a small island called Patmos, which lies in the Aegean between Greece and Turkey. Under Emperor Domitian, Christians were experiencing terrible persecution. John’s revelation exhorted the early church as they were experiencing tribulations. They believed in the imminent return of Jesus, an expectation of the glorious eternal reign of Jesus, and this expectation gave them hope in the midst of trials. 

If this letter was written with the expectation of the imminent return of Christ, how much more should we pay attention today? 

The Vision

What John was allowed to see was way beyond what any human has ever been permitted to see. He saw the risen Lord Jesus in all his resurrected glory. I am sure, even in the Greek language, he struggled to describe what he saw and was told to write. 

There are things that we can learn from John as he begins this book. 

He positioned himself (v. 10).  

Even though John was in prison, he was worshipping the Lord. He was meditating and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. He had positioned himself to hear from the Lord. 

Our worship cannot consist of a ninety-minute gathering once a week. We need to position ourselves daily, waiting on the Lord, meditating on His word. 

As John waited on the Lord, the silence was ripped apart by a voice with the force of a trumpet. It was the voice of Jesus. John was an old man by this time, and he was probably one of the few people alive who had heard Jesus speak before his ascension, but that was over 60 years earlier. John must have recognized his savior, but this time, his voice was different. It was glorious. 

He looked (v. 12).

It was crucial that John turned around and looked. This might sound obvious, but so often we miss what God is doing because we don’t pause to look. We miss simple things like beautiful sunsets, stars, mountains, and pieces of art because we are too busy and are unprepared to turn around and look. 

The first things John saw were the seven golden lampstands. The lampstands represent the seven churches who were about to receive the letters. A candle’s role is to convey light; the church is called to be the light of the world (see Matthew 5:14-16). The mission of any church is to be the light of Jesus wherever it is placed. 

Next John saw Jesus, but he didn’t look like the son of a carpenter who came from Nazareth. John saw Jesus in his resurrected and glorified state as the King of Kings (see Revelation 1:13-16): 

  • He was dressed in a robe with a golden sash around his chest.  This depicts a King and a judge.
  • His had white hair, symbolizing his eternal existence and wisdom (see Daniel 7). 
  • His eyes were like blazing fire, seeing through all pretense and disguise (see Hebrews 4:13).  
  • His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. This is a picture of the judgment and purification that Jesus will bring when he comes again. 
  • His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. The voice that John first heard as a trumpet became a rushing waterfall. 
  • Out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword, which we know is the Word of God, the same Word Jesus used to defeat Satan’s temptation. This sword is our offensive weapon in the armor of God in Ephesians 6.  Jesus destroys his enemies with the Word of his mouth (see Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 46:6). 

He Responded (v. 17)

John fell down in terror and worship. Remember, this is the beloved disciple who leaned against Jesus at the last supper; he was part of the inner circle and knew Jesus as a friend. But now he was seeing Jesus as he really is in his glorified state. He was struck down by the majesty and the glory of the presence of the King of Kings.

I believe if we were to see what John saw, we would have the same response. It wouldn’t be that we would be overcome by Jesus’s beauty and glory; rather, I believe we would be overcome by our sinfulness in light of his holiness. His glory would expose how far short we fall from his glory. 

Throughout history, when God has brought about revival in different regions of the world there has been an overwhelming sense of fear and awareness of sin leading to repentance (see Hebrews 12:28-29). 

John saw the majesty of Jesus and was moved to respond. He became a messenger, proclaiming the most profound message in history—the end of history itself culminating in Christ’s return and eternal reign.

That is how John responded. How has Jesus impacted you, and how are you responding?

Maybe today you need to do what John did: begin each day in the Spirit, praying and meditating on the powerful word of God.

As a church, let us reorient our hearts to worship Jesus as he is today as we read in the words of the Revelation. 

Sermons

A Healthy Church Grows

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I’ve had two trees in our backyard since we moved into our house eleven years ago, both of which grew  rapidly and quickly exceeded my ability to manage their growth.

As I was thinking about this problem, I realized that this is a common problem in churches that are experiencing growth. When the growth exceeds the capacity to manage the growth, the result is a poorly maintained organization that leaves people frustrated on the outside and burnt out on the inside.

Growth can be challenging, so how does a healthy church grow?

The early church is a model of church health and, as we have seen in Acts 2:42, there were 4 distinctive indicators of a healthy church: they were devoted to the Apostles’ teaching, to a healthy community, to breaking bread together and to prayer. These are four devotions of a healthy church that lead to dramatic results as we read in Acts 2:43:47.

An awe-filled church  (vs. 43)

The apostles had walked with Jesus; they had seen his many powerful miracles, and they began to do the same things. Signs and wonders are for the express purpose of bringing glory to God. Today, all over the world, amazing miracles are happening, and their primary purpose is to declare the glory of God and the Gospel message. We see this throughout the book of Acts; signs and wonders lead to people being saved. Awe came upon everyone as they recognized a greater power at work; they couldn’t ignore that God was working in power and it caused a reverent fear (see Hebrews 2:3-4).

A unified church (vs. 44)

The church was in its infancy. There were no arguments over doctrine or opinions about buildings and programs. They were unified in their devotion to the gospel. A church that is devoted to the things of God will be a unified church.When we lack unity, we have likely lost our purpose and our focus. The early church had an intense feeling of responsibility towards one another which was an answer to Jesus’s prayer (see John 17:21-22). Many were drawn to the Savior as a result.

A generous church (vs. 45)

This verse is not promoting a form of socialism, rather this was voluntarily caring for each other as they shared their wealth to help those in need.

The rapid growth of the early church resulted in many physical needs. During Pentecost, there were Jews from every nation of the world.  Many of them stayed in Jerusalem after being converted. They would have quickly run out of money and food, and they needed places to stay. There was an outpouring of generosity as the unity of the church led to caring for these needs.

Generosity must be an essential mark of the church (see 1 John 3:16-18).

William Barclay wrote, “a real Christian cannot bear to have too much while others have too little.”

A rejoicing church (vs. 46)

Daily the believers were celebrating their salvation; they were celebrating that Jesus was alive and that their lives had purpose. They weren’t simply following a religion of going through the weekly and yearly festivals; this new devotion to Christ affected every aspect of their lives.

There was no separation between secular and sacred. They didn’t only gather once a week to dress up in their Sunday best and try to impress others with their holiness. Their lives were transformed by being totally committed to the Lordship of Jesus, and it affected every aspect of their lives.

This is such a challenge for us in the western culture. We have bought into the idea that we can be Christians so long as we attend church regularly and give to the church. This is not what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Being a Christian affects every minute of every day of our lives, whether it is at home, work, school or in fellowship with other believers.

We don’t add Jesus to our lives; we give our lives to Jesus. That is Lordship and real Christianity.

An attractive church (vs. 47)

There have been many books written and seminars held regarding the subject of church growth, encouraging churches to change the decor, the music, the lighting, the website, and much more. Some even encourage pastors to reduce the amount of teaching using the Bible, and by all means, please don’t tell people that they are sinners! These books and seminars have made a lot of people rich, but they’ve also fostered a consumer church culture. This culture is so focused on the desires of the attendees that the church forgets its reason for gathering.

This consumer mindset is extremely damaging to the health of the church.  If we cater to what people want in order to gather a crowd, we will necessarily deviate from the gospel message.

The church is good at religion, creating a list of things to do that a good Christian should do. But the early church focused not on what they should do but what has already been done by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  

The early church praised God for all that He had done. They were not seeking any fame or notoriety; they gave all the glory to God. As a result, they grew in number. People were attracted to the miracles that were being done and to the genuine, authentic worship that the church enjoyed.

True church growth must be a work of God as it is an authentic display of individuals living as followers of Christ which will draw others to want the same.

We can do our part to welcome people and invite people and witness to people, but ultimately Jesus is the one who builds the church (see Matthew 16:18).

Are you contributing your part to a healthy church?

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A Healthy Church Prays

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Do you know who you are?

If you have been at Grace Point at any time during the last 10 years, you will know that we value prayer. But even though we emphasize prayer, we still don’t see our prayer times well attended. I have been wrestling with this and would like to suggest that we don’t have a prayer problem, we have an identity problem. We don’t pray because we don’t believe our prayers make a difference, because we don’t know who we are in the Kingdom of God. As followers of Jesus, we have an identity problem.  

A Priestly Calling

As Christians, our identity should not be in our nationality, our education, our career, nor any other criteria, our identity is to be found in being a child of God, adopted by the creator of the universe and being a member of the eternal kingdom of God. But more than that as the Apostle Peter wrote, I am part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (see 1 peter 2:9).

If you are a follower of Jesus, someone who has committed your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you are a priest, that is your identity.

Andrew Murray in his book, “With Christ in the School of Prayer” writes, “Every member of the Body of Christ – the church, has a right to the priesthood. But not everyone exercises it, many are still entirely ignorant of it. And yet it is the highest privilege if a child of God.”

What does it mean to be a priest in the kingdom of God?

As a church we believe in the priesthood of every believer, we believe that every believer is called to fulltime ministry, whatever their vocation might be (see Revelation 1:5-6).

A New Access

In the Old Testament, under the Mosaic Law, God’s people had a priesthood. There were definite qualifications for this, and it was an awesome privilege. No man in Israel could serve at the altar, or enter the tabernacle or temple holy places, except those born into the tribe of Levi and consecrated to God for service. The priest’s role was to be the mediator between God and man. And only the High priest could enter the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest was permitted to enter and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificial animal on the mercy seat of the Ark. By doing so, the high priest atoned for his own sins and those of the people.

The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the tabernacle/temple by the veil, a huge, heavy drape made of fine linen that was up to 6 inches thick.

When Jesus died on the cross, this veil was torn by God from top to bottom. It was a supernatural event done by the power of God to declare that man was no longer separated from God. The Old Testament temple system was made obsolete as the New Covenant was ratified. No longer would we have to depend on priests to perform sacrifices on our behalf (see Hebrews 10:19-22).

We as followers of Jesus now have a great and eternal High priest, who mediates for us, he represents us before God the Father. More than that, because of the perfect and final sacrifice that Jesus performed on the cross, we are declared righteous before God. Jesus is not only the High priest, but he is also the King of Kings, therefore we are a royal priesthood and a holy nation, because we are forever covered and made holy by the blood of Jesus.

We have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, to be priests where we live, praying for our community and representing God to the culture. Sadly, we don’t realize who we are, we have a case of mistaken identity, and we don’t see ourselves as priests, we are happy just to take our salvation and hide from the world until we die, or Jesus comes again. Instead of influencing our culture, we hide from our culture.

But we are called to be priests who as a body of believers represent Christ to the world. When we display Christ, we display the power of the Gospel and people are drawn to it.  

A Praying Church

If we want to see miracles, salvations, people set free from addictions, marriages healed and lives restored, we need to act like priests who have unhindered and unlimited access to the Great High Priest. That is what it means to pray, that is why a healthy church prays.  

We cannot work our way into church health; we cannot come up with strategies and programs that will somehow create sustainable church health. The only lasting strategy is prayer. Because we desperately need the holy spirit to give us life, we are a dependent people, unity and community are not possible without the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our church.

Our worship services need to be permeated with prayer, because prayer is an expression of our dependence on God. A healthy church prays, not only on a Sunday morning, but also during the week as we gather.

How do you prepare your heart to worship on a Sunday morning?

Do you realize that as a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a priest in the kingdom, not only on a Sunday morning, but also on a Saturday night. How you spend your time during the week in private has a very real and definite effect on our gathering here together.

“We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence.

Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its destruction.

This is no mere theory; it is a spiritual reality.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Sermons

Community that Glorifies God

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We live in an era when we are more connected than any other time in the history of man.

But psychologists tell us that loneliness is the number one health issue of our time. How can it be that we are so connected but at the same time so lonely?

In Acts 2:42, we read that the early church devoted themselves to fellowship. The Greek word “Koinonia” means partnership, participation, communion, and companionship.

In Romans 15:1-7, the Apostle Paul instructs the Roman church how to live and relate to one another in light of the Gospel.

The Gospel Leads to Unity

In the first verse Paul gets straight to the point, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” He uses the word obligation, which could also mean duty, or legal requirement.

We don’t like this kind of language in our culture today; we are free individuals, so why should we be obligated to do anything for someone else? This issue existed in the first-century church as well. Paul answers the question very clearly in verse 3 of Romans 15, “For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.””

Christ gave himself for us. This is the foundation for the Gospel message: Jesus, being obedient to the Father, preferred us over his own life and his position in heaven. True unity in the church is an outworking of the Gospel; it is a miracle as the Holy Spirit draws us to prefer each other in light of what Jesus has done for us.

Endurance and Encouragement Leads to Unity

Though unity among believers is an outflow of the gospel, it still takes work. Paul repeats the phrase “endurance and encouragement” in verse 4. Being devoted to the fellowship of believers, as the early church was, takes endurance, hard work, and commitment.

Endurance is the ability to  persevere in doing something even when it is difficult or when the finish line never seems to get any closer. Walking in unity requires endurance; there are days when it seems easier than others, but we keep on going because we are committed to each other just as Christ is committed to us.

Along with endurance, we need encouragement. We are encouraged by the faithfulness of those who have gone before us (see Hebrews 12:1). We are encouraged by the Word of God, and by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the church.

All of these encourage us and keep us moving forward towards greater unity, towards a healthier community.

The Purpose of Unity

Community literally means living with unity. But what is the purpose of unity in the church?

Is it so that we can just get along or portray the image of a nice happy family? Is it so that we attract more people to our happy community and grow? Actually, unity is significantly more important than all those outcomes; unity in the church is to bring glory to God (see Romans 15:6).

How do we display the glory of God as the church? In Ephesians 3:10 we read, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

God is using the followers of Jesus to display His wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The word for “manifold” is the same word that one would use to describe the many facets of a diamond. God holds the church up like a diamond and points to the church, teaching the angels and principalities of the spirit world about Himself.

Even as we are weak, broken, and struggling towards unity, we are used by God more than we will ever know because of the Gospel and the righteousness of Jesus. When we walk in unity and prefer others over ourselves, we display the glory of God. In John 17:22 and 23, Jesus prayed that we would display the glory given to him by the Father in order to draw others to a saving knowledge of himself.

The Miracle of Unity

Unity is not simply getting along for the sake of peace; unity is a miracle of God displaying the glory of God to a lost and dying world. Jesus went to the cross so that we could be a community of believers united in fellowship and love.

There is much at stake, including the eternal destiny of our neighbors. It is vital that we are a healthy community.. Our culture is starving for authentic community, and we have the solution to show it to them—the power of the gospel, the encouragement of the Word and of those who have gone before us, and the example of our Savior.

The Path to Unity in Community

Many people are thirsting for community but are afraid to step into it. Building authentic community can be scary as it requires vulnerability, self-sacrifice, and laying aside our fears of rejection. But something powerful happens when we reach out and proactively strive to build community,  not for what we can get out of it but for the Glory of God to be displayed. When the focus is off of ourselves,  we will get more out of a community than we ever imagined, and we will be healthy.

When we grasp that Jesus went to the cross for us, we will easily give ourselves and our self-interests away in order to step into a community where Jesus is glorified. If we struggle to stay in fellowship with each other, it is because we are not allowing the Gospel message to permeate our relationships; we are self-centered rather than grace centered.

We live in a culture of individualism and consumerism, and the church can easily fall into the trap of feeding the desires of the consumers instead of focusing on the glory of God. A healthy church is where people willingly step into community to display the glory of Jesus.

Stepping into Community Begins with the Gospel

Firstly, we need to understand that supernatural unity can only be found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as the head of the church. A church community that is not centered around a common relationship with Jesus will always leave us wanting (see John 4:13-14a).

Stepping into Community Requires Vulnerability

Stepping into community requires vulnerability and involves risk. We are all busy, but we prioritize what we value. What might happen if you volunteered to serve, hosted a meal, or invited others into your life and home?

What if we prioritized and valued authentic community—what better way to spend our time than to display the glory of God?

Are you ready to take a step into community today?

Sermons, Uncategorized

Healthy Church Part 1

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What is a healthy church? 1 Corinthians 12 describes the church as a body, with each part functioning well so that the whole body is healthy. But we all bring our brokenness and pain with us, how can we function together as a healthy body?

In Acts 2, we have a model of a healthy church. One hundred and twenty followers of Jesus, praying in the upper room, were filled with the Holy Spirit and they went into the streets proclaiming the Gospel message. Three Thousand people were added to the church that day and this same church has influenced the world for the past two thousand years. But what was their secret?

A Focused Church

The few weeks have been filled with mission trips, outreaches and praying for those going out to share the message of the Gospel, focusing on the lost in our city and across the nations. This is all good, but a church that only looks at missions without caring about the discipleship of the members is not healthy. Just like a church that focuses only inward is not healthy.

There needs to be a balance of equipping (discipleship) and mission (going out).

Athletic trainers will tell you that a strong core is vital for the body to function well and spend hours strengthening the core. If the core is weak, the whole body is weak and cannot operate at its best. The same applies to the analogy of the church as a body. If the core of the church is weak, the whole body does not function well.

The early church was more than a gathering of like-minded believers who came together once a week for a time of fellowship and worship. It was a body of fully committed people, committed to the lordship of Jesus Christ personally, and committed to each other in fellowship and unity. The first church was the healthiest and most effective the Church has ever been.

A Devoted Church

Acts 2:42 begins with the phrase, “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching…”

Devotion means a regular observance. Individual committed devotion is a sign of genuine salvation. Saying that you do not desire to read God’s Word regularly is like saying that you are alive, but don’t need to drink water. The foundational mark of a true believer is someone who abides in Christ, who feeds on God’s word (see John 8:31).

So, what were they teaching? The Apostles had sat under the greatest teacher of all time for three years. In the upper room at Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and now they were teaching the new believers who in turn taught others. This is the pattern of the early church and sadly something that we have lost in the modern church. We all need to carefully study doctrine, know what we believe, why we believe it and then be able to teach it to others. This message is intended to come to us and then flow through us (2 Timothy 2:2).

In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus commands all of us to make disciples, to win converts and disciple them. This is not only a command to go to the ends of the earth, but also to the person sitting next to you, or the young person who is desperate for a mentor to help them walk the Christian life in the twenty-first century.

A Dead Church

The Dead Sea is the lowest body of water on the planet and lies between Israel and Jordan. The river Jordan flows into it from the sea of Galilee but does not flow out of it. As a result, the Dead Sea has ten times the concentration of salt than the oceans and is unable to sustain any life. This is a picture of many individuals and even churches who pride themselves on their theological knowledge, amassing more teaching, but never applying the word.

Such people and churches are deep, salty and dead!

A healthy body of water allows the life-giving resource to flow in and then out again, feeding another pond or stream. Are you stagnating on the word? Or are you allowing the word to flow through you to others?

A Gospel Church

The early church focused on the resurrection of Jesus and the Gospel message, they preached John 14:6. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who spoke all of creation into being. He came to earth in the form of a baby, his mother Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived a perfect life, he was crucified and buried, but he rose again on the third day, overcoming death and paying the price of the judgment of God for our sins. This Jesus ascended into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of the Father and where he is preparing praying for us and preparing a place for us to be with him. This same Jesus is coming again to restore all things and judge the earth.

This Gospel message is the message that saves us, but it is also the message that sustains us and keeps us growing in our own personal walk with the Lord.

We have the blessing of the eternal Word of God; a healthy church devotes themselves to the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12).

The church and individual that studies and meditates on the Word of God will be healthy.

Jonathan Edwards, the 18th century theologian defined 5 metrics for determining a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in a church.

  1. A growing esteem for Jesus Christ.
  2. A discernible spirit of repentance.
  3. A dogged devotion to the Word of God.
  4. An interest in theology and doctrine.
  5. An evident love for God and neighbor.

Are you healthy? Is our church healthy?

Sermons

True Freedom

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This week as we celebrate our nation’s independence, I want to ask the question: are you truly free?

Most people would point to the legal freedoms that we have, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and many other freedoms that are guaranteed by the law. However, there is a freedom that only a small percentage of people experience, a true freedom that no one can take away.

This kind of freedom has been experienced by people in countries where there is no freedom of speech. This kind of freedom is experienced by people who are bound to a wheelchair. This kind of freedom is even experienced by people in a prison cell. This is the freedom that Jesus gives; it is true freedom.

Freedom in Abiding

In John 8:31 Jesus addresses those who believed that he was the Messiah, saying, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”

Abiding in the Word is still a mark of a follower of Jesus today. The Bible is the revelation of Jesus, the Word of God (see John 1:1). 

The word “abide” means to remain, to stay grounded, to remain in place for an extended period. To be a disciple of Jesus, we must be grounded in the Word of God. Jesus taught in John 15 that he is the vine, and we are the branches, and only by abiding in him will we be able to produce fruit. 

If you are a follower of Jesus, you will spend time regularly and intentionally reading and meditating on the Word. The result will be that your daily decision making, and lifestyle will be guided by the truths and principles of the Word of God.

If someone was to look at your daily life and disciplines, would they know if you were a disciple of Jesus? Would they see that you abide in the Word?

Jesus continues in verse 32, “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  This verse is frequently quoted on its own without the context of the preceding verses. When people quote it, they usually leave out the conjunction, “and”. From politicians to talk show hosts, this verse has crept into pop culture.

Quoting this verse on its own could lead one to believe that freedom or salvation is obtainable by some special knowledge that can be obtained. But that is a form of an ancient heresy known as Gnosticism, which is still prevalent today.

But the whole sentence reveals that it is not about human knowledge leading to freedom; it is about abiding in Jesus, growing in the knowledge and truth of the Gospel that leads to freedom.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “When we obey His Word, we grow in spiritual knowledge; and as we grow in spiritual knowledge, we grow in freedom from sin. Life leads to learning, and learning leads to liberty.”

Not All are Free

Not everyone in the crowd agrees with Jesus (see John 8:33). They claim that as a nation they had never been enslaved. However, a brief look at the history of the nation of Israel quickly dispels that statement. The Jews were under the heavy hand of the Roman empire during the time that Jesus walked the earth.

Jesus pointedly addresses their true slavery in verse 34, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

Today many people believe that freedom is the ability to do whatever we want to do, but that is anarchy and leads to bondage.

Peter Marshall, the chaplain to the US Senate in 1947, said, “may we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”

Freedom is Available

By abiding in Jesus and in his Word, we will be set free from the slavery to sin. You cannot keep on willfully sinning if you know Jesus as savior (See 1 John 3:6-9).

If you are tolerating sin in your life, whether it is dishonesty in business, pornography, bad language, alcohol or drug abuse, gossip, slander, or any sin that you are not willing to renounce, you are a slave to that sin. You are not free.

How do we obtain freedom? It is only found in Jesus, as he says in verse 36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  Freedom and life are found in no other name.

Freedom Rejected

In verse 38, Jesus addresses the people who do not believe in him, those who are enslaved to sin and don’t want to come to him for freedom, saying, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Initially, it seems that Jesus is telling them that they are listening to Abraham, but that is not what Jesus is saying. Reading further, Jesus clarifies in verse 44a, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires…”

Jesus was not mincing words or being politically correct. Jesus knew the price that he would have to pay for our freedom and salvation; he knew that he was about to go to the cross to take on the full weight of the wrath of his Father.

Please don’t miss this, if you are willfully living in sin, and you are not bothered by it or compelled by the Holy Spirit to repent of your sin, you are not a follower of Jesus.

Knowing True Freedom

However, if you believe in Jesus and the work that he did for you on the cross, you can know true freedom.

Freedom from the fear of God’s wrath, freedom from the expectations of others, freedom from worry, freedom amid pain and suffering, freedom despite your situation in this life.

This is the true freedom that Jesus offers. Do you know this freedom today?

Uncategorized

Remembering the Gospel

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I was so blessed to have God fearing parents who loved Jesus more than anything else, and modelled a lifestyle of uncompromising spiritual disciplines. My parents would seldom miss attending Sunday worship services and midweek Bible studies.

In our family, it was not an option to go to church, it was not something we did if it was convenient or if something more “exciting” was happening that day.

For my parents, it wasn’t legalism or ritual, rather it was out of a love relationship with the King of Kings. It was a discipline born out of putting Jesus first in our family.  

I so appreciate that it was modelled for me from a very young age.

Gathering with the Body of Christ, is putting Jesus first. I really believe we need to rethink our priorities as a culture and prioritize the discipline of gathering on a Sunday morning. Not “attending” via YouTube but actually being in the room with other believers.

If we were to get an honest answer from many Western church goers as to why they attend church, most people want community or a social gathering, not the living and active Body of Christ. If that offends you, then how can you explain that the average church member attends worship services 1.6 times a month?

As we have been looking at these last few weeks, church health is about healthy communities, proclaiming and living around the Gospel message. The message of the Gospel is what unites us and draws us into fellowship. The word Gospel comes from the Greek translation and simply means, the Good News.

One of the clearest descriptions of the Good News is found in 1 Corinthians 15, as Paul reminds the church of why they exist. Something we need to do time and time again.  

1 Corinthians 15:1-6, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”

That is the Gospel that Paul said is, “of first importance”.  Jesus, the sinless Son of God, died in our place, crucified for our sins. He was raised back to life, overcoming sin and death, paving the way for us to be able to stand in right relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Looking at verse 1, we have three key words regarding this message of the Gospel.

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand.”

  1. The Gospel must be Preached.

The role of the Church is to preach the Good News (See Romans 10:14).

We proclaim the Gospel through the ordinances of the church, Baptism and Communion – the Lord’s Supper. To proclaim and remember the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Every time we partake of the elements of the bread and the cup, we declare the Gospel. It is anything but routine, it is a life-giving and essential part of a healthy church.

  • The Gospel must be Received

We can hear the Gospel every day, but until we receive it and believe it, entering into a personal relationship with Jesus, it is not the Good News for us. The Gospel only becomes Good News when we personally believe in the name of Jesus for salvation.

  • We Stand on the Gospel

It doesn’t matter what is happening in the Middle East, the White House, our bank accounts or the doctors report, we stand on the promise of the Gospel.

Writing about Spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6, Paul emphasizes the importance of standing firm (See Ephesians 6:13-14).

We stand on the Gospel of Jesus Christ because in light of eternity, it is all that will ultimately matter.

A Warning

But we must always approach communion with awe and reverence. It is remembering the suffering of Jesus, it is holy.  

Paul writes a warning to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. We need to examine our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to bring conviction of sin, that we may repent and come to the table with clean hands and a pure heart (See Psalm 24).

How reverently do you approach the Lord’s Supper?

Uncategorized

Summer of Community part 3

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Maturity is not measured in years; rather maturity is a measure of emotional and spiritual health. Maturity is being self-aware and comfortable with who God has made you to be. Immature people often try to copy others rather than developing their own identity in Christ.

Depending on our life experiences and trauma, we all have some aspects of our emotions that are not mature and that have not developed the way God intended.

For the Christian, maturity is Christlikeness. It means growing more like Jesus and dying to our flesh daily, finding satisfaction in the approval of our Heavenly Father alone.

In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul encouraged the church to be unified, to use their gifts and to mature as the Body of Christ. We see in verse 12 that maturity comes from doing the work of the ministry. We make a mistake when we think that we cannot do the work until we are spiritually mature. The truth is that we grow and mature as we exercise our spiritual gifts in the Body.

In verses 13-16, we see four traits of a spiritually mature person:

1: Maturity Involves Christlikeness

In verse 13, we read that Jesus is our example of spiritual maturity. The fullness of Christ is the expression of completion of our Christian walk, exhibited by the Fruit of the Spirit that we see in Galatians 5:22-23.

Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Jesus, as our old way of thinking and acting is replaced by Christ’s through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We will only attain Christlikeness when Jesus comes again, but we need to be moving forward. If you are not more like Jesus today than you were a year ago, something is wrong with your walk with the Lord. We grow more like Jesus as we walk with Jesus.

2: Maturity Involves Doctrinal Stability

Spiritual maturity involves the mind. We must not think that Christian growth is purely an emotional and spiritual exercise and that we need to check our reasoning skills at the door. Verse 13 encourages us to grow in the knowledge of the Son of God. And in verse 14 Paul uses the example of children as the opposite end of the spectrum. Children can be gullible and easily swayed by false teaching.

We all begin our relationship with Jesus as spiritual children, with childlike faith. But we must not stay as children; we need to grow and be able to feed ourselves by reading and meditating on the Word of God.

The world is full of false teachers with false doctrines. We need to think, pray, and ask God for discernment. We have a very real enemy who will use every tool available to sidetrack us on our spiritual journey of becoming more like Jesus.

Knowing the Word is the best way to avoid being distracted by false doctrines and unbiblical teaching. We can only know God’s Word by spending time reading and meditating on it.

Sadly, the statistics show that most churchgoers do not read their Bibles, and this is why the church is prey for false teachers (see Hebrews 5:11-14).

3: Maturity involves Truth Joined with Love

Verse 15 has the often-misused text, “speaking the truth in love…” This verse has often been taken and used as a “baseball bat of brotherly love”. It’s one of those Christianese phrases that we like to use before or after saying something harsh.

This is more than simply speaking; the Greek word is complex here. John Stott describes it as “truthing”. Speaking the truth in love is truthing in love. This includes maintaining, living, and practicing the truth. We live out the truth as an example to those around us. It is the equivalent of the phrase: “actions speak louder than words.”

Mature people do not avoid tough conversations, but they speak from a firm foundation of love and not for selfish gain.

 “Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love, love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth” John Stott

4: Maturity Involves Contribution

In verse 16, Paul goes back to the analogy of the body when speaking about the church.

The church is like a body with many different parts and connections; it is not a social club. The church is the Body of Christ, where each part has an important part to play.

As the church, we are dependent on Christ as the head of the church, and we are dependent on each other as working members of the same body. As we grow in Christ individually, we exercise our gifts, and the Body becomes healthy.

Sadly, many churches in the world have a static view of the church. The members of the church are satisfied if the congregation stays about the same size, with the same familiar faces. They are happy if the programs can all be maintained and the budget is enough to keep all the familiar programs running. In these churches there is no vision for growth through evangelism or missional engagement. This church may have already died.

This is a tragedy and not God’s design for the church. God’s design for the church is to be the salt and the light in our communities and to be the cultural influence for the glory of God.

As we focus on being a healthy church, the natural by-product is growth. But what is church growth? Is it numeric growth?

I believe church growth is first and foremost spiritual maturity, sacrificial living, healthy evangelistic relationships, and people feeding on the Word of God for themselves. Thereafter, the numeric growth will follow.

If you have been a Christian for any length of time, who are you feeding? Are you growing?