Be The Church Series

TITLE: BE THE CHURCH

SCRIPTURE: ROMANS 16:1-2

I want to continue with Part-iii of our series entitled “THE CHURCH SERIES.”

• First message of this series was entitled “The Church”

• Last Sunday message entitled “The Church Has Left the Building”

• This morning I want to tag this message “Be the Church”

• We will end the series with the final installment next week

Few years ago, I read about a Mega-Church – Mega Church is defined as having 2,000 active membership or more. This particular mega-church was located in Vista, California. It made national headlines when they canceled all of their worship services over the weekend. Rather than meeting together in an air-conditioned comfortable, state of the art sanctuary, North Coast Church closed its doors for what they called a “weekend of service,” providing churchgoers the opportunity to actually show the love of Jesus in their community.

Of the 7,000 believers who attend North Coast Church, over 5,500 of them showed up Sunday morning to live out their commitment as they tackled 139 community service projects at 70 different sites all throughout North San Diego county.

Pastor Larry Osborne, who is the Senior Pastor of the Church, said, “our weekly service projects and our weekend of service is simply one more way to help our members understand that church is what we are, not just something we go to… what we tell people is — this week, we’re going to be the church instead of just going to church.” -- Now, there is a congregation that understands what church is all about. They are committed to Be the Church.

There are simply far too many Christians out there who have this mistaken belief that church is just something that you go to for an hour or an hour and a half on Sunday morning. The truth is — you don’t go to church; you are the church!

• The church isn’t a place

• It’s people!

• Jesus said --

o You are the salt of the earth

o You are the light of the world

o You are a city set on a hill

We are the church! It’s up to us to be the Mouth - Hands - Feet of Jesus — to Be the Church! Of course, getting involved in the community and doing service projects — like those at North Coast Church — is only part of what it means to Be the Church.

• Being the Church also means being like Jesus

• Being a part of God’s family

• Giving of ourselves and our means

There are some requirements for us to “Be the Church.” Just like raising our children there were requirements made on both sides as Parents and our Children.

• As Parents

o We are choosing to bring that child into the family forever

o We are willing to bear the great cost

o We are willing to take the risks that come with raising a child

o We give that child the family name

o We invest a large portion of our life and time into that child

o And then make that child an heir to all we own

o That's not a small thing

o It isn't a trivial decision

• As Children

o Expected to be manurable

o Expected to follow the rules

o Expected to earn good grades in school

o Expected to be appreciative

That's exactly what God has done for and expects in us as ‘The Church.’

• He has adopted us into His family

• Bore the cost for our redemption at the cross

• Takes the risk of being grieved with our decisions

• Gave us His name

• Makes continual investments in our growth

• Designates us heirs of His Kingdom

• And He does this all with great love

• This isn't just a legal or technical reality

• It's an expression of divine love

• All God expects in return is that we “BE THE CHURCH”

I don’t believe there is anybody in all of Scripture that exemplifies what it means to Be The Church more clearly or concisely than an often-over-looked woman named in our text for examination -- This unassuming woman by the name of PHOEBE. While there are no examples in the Bible of the perfect Christian — because “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD,” there is this one woman, mentioned briefly in ROMANS 16:1-2, that I believe gives us some insight into what God wants from us and what it means to Be the Church.

We know very little about this godly woman who carried Paul’s letter to the Romans.

• We just have the brief mention of her name and service

• She was named after the Moon-Goddess of the Greeks