More Important Than You Thought: A Called Community Series

MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU THOUGHT: A CALLED COMMUNITY

Ephesians 1.3.14

S: Community

C: A Called Community

Th: Building Up in Love; Doing Our Work

Pr: GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD TO US.

?: How?

KW: Blessings

TS: We will find in our study of Ephesians 1.3-14 four blessings that show how God is always good to us.

Type: Propositional

The ____ blessing is a…

I. NEW IDENTITY (3-6)

II. NEW FREEDOM (7-8)

III. NEW PURPOSE (9-12)

IV. NEW POWER (13-14)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Receive the blessing of His salvation

• Fulfill your purpose

• Be community that fulfills its calling

Version: ESV

RMBC 03 September 06 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Disappointment

A man is sitting in a restaurant with his buddies and all of a sudden he turns white.

"What’s wrong?" they ask.

"Oh, man, I left my brand new accordion in the back seat of my car, and I parked it in a pretty dark area."

He runs outside to check on his car and comes back looking dejected.

"What happened" his buddies ask. "Did someone break in to your car? Did they steal the accordion?

"They broke in, all right, but now I have three more accordions."

Feeling rejection is a pretty strong emotion, isn’t it?

Especially when we are enthusiastic about the subject…

1. How are you on rejection?

I remember when Dondra and I candidated in Kearny, NJ, we were enthusiastic about going, in spite of the fact that Kearny was situated between Newark and Jersey City.

But we were stunned to get the news that we were rejected by the church the following Sunday when they voted.

That was a really lousy feeling.

It really hurt.

It stinks, because…

2. We like to belong.

We like being a part of something bigger than ourselves.

TRANSITION:

1. Our discipleship emphasis theme is “Building Up in Love; Doing Our Work.”

Hopefully, you have received a booklet like this by now, which is our devotional guide for the next 43 days.

Day 1 was on September 1st, so now we are on day 3.

But you can pick up right there, and get fully involved.

I encourage you to read the beginning pages because this is where we are describing what we desire to accomplish for the next month and a half.

Of course, I will be speaking more of that in succeeding weeks.

There is a point to this emphasis that we want you to get, and it is simply this…

2. We belong to a community.

As we mentioned before, we all enjoy belonging to something bigger than ourselves.

God has wired humanity this way, and He has especially wired us, as believers in the Lord Jesus, to be in community together.

This is, in a real sense, what it means to be a church.

For…

3. We exist in a community that is called together.

That is the root meaning of the Greek word for church, ecclesia.

It is the idea of being “called out” to gather and meet together.

God has called together this community called Randall.

We exist, ultimately for the praise of God’s glory.

And the way God demonstrates how great He is, is by working for our good, so that we might establish His kingdom presence in this world.

So, He challenges us to be real community, a people joined together to accomplish the mission of worship, spiritual formation, love and care in relationships and getting the message of the good news connected to those who have not yet heard or understood it.

There are many ways we demonstrate our community, but I want to focus on two this morning.

The first is what we have traditionally called our Sunday or Bible School.

We have always considered our children a priority, but we began to realize a couple of years ago, we were stuck n a rut – both in facility and program.

There is no one to blame in this.

We are not pointing any fingers because it was a collective effort that got us there.

So, we have redesigned and retooled what we are doing in the hour before the worship service.

For grades K-6, we are calling it Power Planet (parents you need to get one of these folders about what is going on during September).

One of the ways we do community together is taking Christian Education seriously.

The primary place this takes place is in the home, but it is not intended to be a solo effort.

We are to cultivate spiritual growth in Christ with each other.

For our children, this is all the more powerful when they are learning Bible lessons that are geared for their age, and they are loved and cared for by Spirit-filled children who are dedicated to their spiritual formation.