CHURCH
1. The Church is not the building.
2. This sermon is an acrostic.
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. {Peter: this name signifies a rock}
Romans 15:1-16
“C” (Verses 1-4) Comforter’s We are to lift up the fallen and encourage the week. During the week we get beat up by the devil and the world so we need the comfort of our fellow Christians.
Support and encourage our teens and children.
I don’t like it when I here people say, “our teens are the church of tomorrow “ they are the church of today!
We need to encourage and comfort and build up others especially our younger generation.
Know what the bible says about how to encourage each other? Lets look up 1 Thess. 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
“H” (Verse 3) HUMBLE Humility and pride do not go together. You can have one or the other but not both. God’s people need to have a healthy humility. 2 Chronicles 7:14 – If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Jesus was a very humble person. In Matthew 11:29 - Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
It takes humility to be the greatest in God’s eyes.
Notice it says Humble yourself
Matthew 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
James 4:10 says “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up.” 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.”
Notice that all these scriptures tell us to humble OURSELVES. It is an action that we must do, we must remove our own pride.
The “H” can also stand for Harmony which brings me to my next point.
“U” (Verses 5-7) Unity When Christians disagree they are supposed to share the same position. On there knees
1. Jesus taught us to be one. John 17:20-23
a. Jesus prayed for us (look at verse 20)
2. I don’t feel that it is ever the Lord’s Will that a church should split.
3. We must be one in our worship of Him, One in our singing of praises, One in our strategy of reaching the lost.
4. God will not move among us if we don’t have a common single goal. Acts. 2:1
Acts 2:42-47 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, {from…: or, at home} 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
“R” (Verses 9-13) Rejoicers. Christians have more reason to rejoice than anyone!
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
James 1:2 ¶ My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
How can I be joyful during times of trial? by giving thanks to GOD.
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Psalms 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
“C” (Verses 14-16) Concerned We need a genuine concern for the lost. Paul had a concern for the lost. Jesus all through His ministry was full of concern. Matthew 9:35-38
When was the last time you had a real deep concern for your lost friend or family member?
Matthew 7:13-14 – There are only two ways a man can go. The highway to hell or the farm road to heaven. The Bible says that broad is the way that leads to destruction, and narrow the way that leads to life.
When we develop a real concern for the lost, we will also always need to be prepared. 1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
“H” Harvesters John 4:35 – 38 Faithful
Back to Matthew 9:37 – The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few.
If God is going to work we can’t be split we must be like-minded.
Do you think that God is interested in building big churches? (Souls saved)
The one thing they had in mind was wanting the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
If you want Power you need the Holy Spirit Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
We need the Power of the Holy Spirit to be what God wants the church to be
We need the Anointing of the Holy Spirit to be the church they were in the book of Acts. The only way to obtain that is through prayer.
James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.]
We say we believe the Bible we need to act like it?
If you study any of the spiritual awakenings we have seen in the past…
Is Satan attacking your church? Is God stronger than Satan? We sometimes thing of God and Satan dukeing it out and that is just not the case. The devil has already been defeated. Even the devils believe and tremble.
Satan is merely Gods messenger boy! (read about Job and Saul)
