The Church Names Of Jesus
OKAY – first of all I would like to give a huge birthday shout out to… to….US!!!
YOU SEE – today is Pentecost Sunday! The birthday of the Church and of the Kingdom Jesus came to establish, nearly 2000 years ago.
NOW REMEMBER – Jesus said in Matthew 16
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. – Matthew 16:18
Note – ‘this rock’ = the fact that Jesus is the Christ (the promised Messiah, the Son of the Living God).
AND – Jesus has built His church and here she stands alive and well… 2000 years later.
UNDERSTAND – for 40 days after His resurrection Jesus hung about with His guys/disciples with 2 primary goal in mind.
#1 – convince them that he really was alive, and
#2 – speak to them about the Kingdom.
AND THEN – on day 40 Jesus’ meets with them for the last time before ascending back home to the Father and He saying…
“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 2:4,8
AND – so they waited… meeting in an upper room together, praying continually. And 10 days later we read the following…
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. – Acts 2:1-4
THEN PETER – preaching the very first Gospel sermon (telling them, convincing them, and calling on them…
• Telling them - that the Gospel is for all people
• Convincing them - that this Jesus whom they crucified, is not only alive but is the Christ (the Messiah),
• Calling on them – to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus FOR the forgiveness of their sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
– Acts 2:41
AND LISTEN – this 3000 member just born church, formed a and incredibly beautiful and powerful (r u kidding me) community…
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42-47
AND LISTEN… LISTEN – we who are in this room this morning, AND those who are watching online…
‘ARE’ – the offspring of that same incredible movement that began 2000 years ago!
Happy, Happy birthday to us!!!
AND SO – here’s the deal, since today is Pentecost Sunday…
I could think of no better way to continue in our series, ‘Name Above All Names’ and to celebrate our birthday than to
unpack several of ‘The Church Names Of Jesus.’
YOU SEE – there are many titles of Jesus that represent, that are connect to, that describe… the intimate relationship that Jesus has with His church.
UNDERSTAND – in Scripture there are several metaphors used to describe the church…
LIKE - the church is – a flock, a body, a bride, a vineyard, building…
AND LISTEN – Jesus is…
the Shepherd of the Flock, the Head of the body,
the Bridegroom of the bride, the Vine of the branches and
the Cornerstone of the building.
OKAY… SO – what I want us to do this morning, is take a look at each of these titles and see what God wants to teach us today… collectively (as a church) and, individually (as Jesus followers).
HOWEVER – before we dive into that conversation, I share with you a post that I felt compelled to post on FaceBook and Instagram early Friday morning…
Lord please bring your peace and justice to this divided nation, we need it so desperately right now.
An - inexcusable murder of man (George Floyd), violent rioting, burning buildings, looting, division over a virus, a division inflamed by political parties (both sides of the aisle) and all forms of media...
Lord I ask that You move those who claim to know and follow you to act like it (myself included) - and led the way to peace, hope, love, light, unity and justice.
I pray that we would be part of the solution and not add to this problem.
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” - Galatians 5:6
Faith is not expressed - in anger, hatred, harsh words, bitter posts and comments, judgmental attitudes..
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... - 1 Corinthians? ?13:4-8? ???
AND THEN – early Saturday… after staying up well into the morning watching and over the chaos and violence sweeping across our nation… I felt compelled to post these words.
• Sin is always sin.
• Wrong is never right.
• A lie is never the truth.
• Crime is never victimless.
• Violence often breeds more violence.
• Murder is always evil.
• Hatred never leads to love.
• Racism is always abhorrent.
• Hurting others will never heal our wounds.
• Silence and denial solves nothing.
• Misuse and unfairly applying power and authority is dangerous and can be deadly.
• Stoking the flames of division only furthers our divide.
And anytime we believe or tell ourselves that 'any' of these acts are justifiable...
true justice will 'always' allude us.
I grieve for our country... Our only hope is in the one who can change the human heart.
Prayer…
NOW – the first Church name of Jesus I want us to look at,
we will not be spending much time on, because we talk about this title a few weeks back. JESUS IS…
I. The Shepherd Of The Flock
NOW – this title speaks to – The Care Of Jesus.
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me… - John 10:14
UNDERSTAND B/S – Jesus is the Shepherd of the flock…
• He knows our name
• He leads us out
• He brings us fullness of life
• He restores our souls
• He guides us on paths that are right
• He walks with and beside us through the dark valleys of life, so we no longer need to be afraid
• His rod and staff, they – protect us, correct us and rescue us
• He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies giving us the confidence of ultimate victory Him.
• He pursues us with goodness and love all of the days of our lives
QUESTION – what is the condition of a flock without a Shepherd?
Harassed, helpless, lost afraid, AND - in need of…
Rescue, direction, restoring, protection, comfort, peace, confidence, goodness, love
Jesus is, the Shepherd of the flock, and…
II. The Head Of The Body
This title speaks to the authority of Jesus
NOW – this image of the church being the body of Christ is Paul’s favorite metaphor for the church.
IN FACT - He uses the metaphor over 30 times in his letters…
Check Out what he wrote in the first chapters of both Colossians and Ephesians…
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the first born over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. – Colossians 1:15-18
And he is the head of the body, the church
AND LISTEN – (and I think you will agree) that a head is incomplete without a body, and a body is incomplete without a head.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. - Ephesians 1:22,23
Jesus is the head of the Body.
As the head is the determinative center of one’s physical being, so Christ is authoritative in the church. – Elmer Towns
(determinative - that which serves to define, qualify, or direct actions and behaviors)
NOW – the word translated head Kephale (Ke pha lay)
can mean… can mean head as in that which sits upon your shoulders. AS WE SEE IN - Matthew 10:30 when Jesus said, even the hairs of your head are numbered…
OR – kephale can mean head as in a metaphor for – Lord, master, chief, the one in authority…
AS WE SEE IN – Colossians 2:10
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. – Colossians 2:10 NKJV
SO – Jesus is the authority, the one in charge in both the church and the individual Jesus-follower lives.
AND UNDERSTAND – the practical implication of this title of Jesus relates to our submission and obedience to His will as expressed in His Word.
AND LISTEN – part of the mystery of this name is that Jesus, who is by His nature all powerful, should voluntarily choose to limit Himself, to working through human beings who, although they are members of His body, retain an independent will by which (they can) and (often do) refuse to obey clear directives from the head.
While Christ in His person is altogether complete without the church, Christ in His earthly function is incomplete without His spiritual body… We are called to complete, execute, and perform in our collective life what He desires to have done in the world. What we do in our world, we must do in order to be faithful as His body. - Rubel Shelly
We are called to…
complete, execute, and perform in our collective life what He desires to have done in the world
QUESTION…
WHAT - happens to a body without a head?
WHAT – happens when there is no proper authority in someone’s life? chaos
HEY - have you every heard of the phrase ‘losing your head?”
YOU KNOW LIKE…
“Hey Steve, I know it’s not what you expected to happen, I know that you are frustrated and angry over but do not lose you head over it.”
YOU SEE – since our emotions, our thinking ability and our self control are regulated in the head…
To lose our heads means…
• To lose control of our emotions
• To become so angry and upset that we no longer think clearly… and just act and react mindlessly
• To behave in ways that we know are wrong.
UNDERSTAND – I contend that when a body loses its head, it is not good thing. I for one would like to keep mine.
AND WHEN – the body of Christ loses its head (when it detaches itself from the authority of, and submission to Jesus) IT - is not a good thing… collectively or individually.
Question – as a Jesus follower have you ever lost your head?
How did that work out for you?
Jesus is – the shepherd of the flock, the Head of the body, and
III. The Bridegroom Of The Bride
This title speaks to the love of Jesus.
NOW – when The John the Baptist in John 3:39 refers to Jesus as the bridegroom…
AND – when Jesus calls Himself the bridegroom in Matthew 9:15, the term was already rich in meaning.
YOU SEE – the Old Testament frequently portrayed Israel as the wife of the Lord.
For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. – Isaiah 54:5
AND LISTEN – we see this image of bride and bridegroom in…
Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 16, Joel 1… and the entire book of the prophet Hosea is about God being a faithful husband to a not so faithful people.
AND – we also see this powerful image in the last book of the Bible.
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. – Revelation 19:6-7
HOWEVER – I think without a doubt the most power picture about Jesus being the bridegroom of the bride in all of Scripture is in Ephesians chapter 5…
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. – Ephesians 5:25-27
Jesus is the bridegroom of the bride.
And as our bridegroom He…
• Loves us (despite knowing us)
• Gave himself up for us
• Cleanses and sets us a part
NOW – I have always loved this verse…
As the bridegroom rejoices over His bride so the Lord rejoices over you. – Isaiah 62:5
As a husband, I rejoice over my bride.
And to think that God rejoices over me… that He loves me even though He knows me (the good, the bad, the ugly and the really ugly)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
– Ephesians 3:16-19
Jesus is the Bridegroom of the Bride
Again this speak of the love of Jesus.
QUESTION – what happens to a bride who no longer has a bridegroom?
at least 2 things...
#1 - they will look for love in all of the wrong places
#2 - they will find it hard to really love others... hard to love if you do not feel love.
IV. The Vine Of The Branches
This title speaks to our connection with Jesus
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will produce much fruit; apart from me you can produce nothing. – John 15:5
NOW - the word remain, by my count, shows up eleven times in John 15:1-11. “Remain in me, remain in me, remain in me…”
The literal language carries the idea of a constant dependence.
Vine and branches…constant dependence.
UNDERSTAND - the only hope for life is the connection that is taking place.
LIKE - if you pick up a branch that has been broken off of an apple tree and you set it on a table, it’s not going to start growing apples, right? And if you grab some duct tape and tape it back onto the apple tree… it still will grow any apples, right?
It’s got to be connected.
And Jesus said,
“This is going to be true for you. That your only hope is to stay connected to me. I am the vine.
AND – ‘real life’ comes only through me.”
OKAY B/S… HERE’S – the bottom line…
WE (you and I) - will never live out the kind of life Jesus wants us to live out - without a real solid connection to Jesus.
AND LISTEN - a duct tape connection just will not due.
SURE - you can fake it for a while….
BUT EVENTUALLY – your connection will find you out.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will produce much fruit; apart from me you can produce nothing… - John 15:5
How to make this connection
Dig Into The Word
IF – you want more than a duct tape connection
IF – you want a connection that will successfully weather all of this life’s storms and that will empower
• Do as Jesus did
• Love as Jesus loved
• Produce as Jesus produced
• Live as Jesus lived
YOU – must we great, consistent and ongoing determination read this book. Understand – this book contains the very Words of Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
Deepen Your Prayer Life
LIKE - prayer is just this insane, mind-blowing thing where we get to talk to God, the Creator of the Universe.
Yeah it’s crazy, and yes it’s awkward… but the more you talk to Him the more the awkwardness starts to go away.
A – adoration
C - confession
T - thanksgiving
S – supplication (kingdom, others, yourself)
You know, we live in a world where we’re pretty obsessed with staying connected to what’s happening around the world and to the people around us.
IN FACT - I read some recent research that says that about eighty percent of people who have a smart phone…
The first thing they do in the morning is they check it…the first thing. The first thing they do is they check the news, or they check Facebook, or they look at comments made about a post that they put up before they went to bed, or they get on Instagram, or they check their Twitter fed.
YEAH – it’s the first thing they do (it’s like they/we/I cannot even help themselves)… we must satisfy this deep desire to make connection.
QUESTION - what would happen if we took as much time connecting to the vine as we spent connecting to the world or connecting to people on social media?
I MEAN - what would that look like if we fasted for a week…or even just two or three days…from connecting with other people online and we gave the attention we would normally give to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and we instead spent that amount of time in prayer and Scripture and worship and journaling…
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will produce much fruit; apart from me you can produce nothing. – John 15:5
Jesus is the Vine of the branches.
AND – therefore our only job… make sure that we are remaining in and are staying connected with Him.
YOU SAY – I don’t know how to…
Just remain in Him.
V The Cornerstone Of The Building
This title speaks to our foundation of Jesus.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
– Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)
(Building = church)
Jesus is the cornerstone of the building
IN – ancient structures cornerstones were huge about 7ft by 14 ft. AND – they were the very first stones laid. Not like today when they are usually laid last and are usually just symbolic…
YOU SEE - cornerstones were part of the foundation and it was from the cornerstone that the entire building got it’s directions and angles…
UNDERSTAND – ‘everything’ depended and rested on, and was built in reference to the cornerstone…
JESUS – is our cornerstone…
THEREFORE – He determines the directions and angles of our life and for His church.
UNDERSTAND – for the Christian and for the church everything must rest on Jesus.
• How we spend our money and our time
• What we give to and what live for
• What we do or don’t do…
• Where we go and where we don’t go
• How we treat those who hurt us
• Our view of sex
• The kind of students or employees we are
• How we treat our spouse
YOU SEE … as a Jesus-follower (whether or not)
• TURN the other cheek
• GO – the second mile
• GIVE UP – the spare coat
• LIVE – without anger
• FORGIVE – those who hurt you
• PUT – the needs of others before your own,
• PRAY – for those who persecute you,
• FIGHT – to save your marriage
• SERVE – Him with reckless abandon…
• GIVE – your time and money to His church
• SEE – the beauty and potential in the worst of sinners,
No longer rests on…
It all rests on Jesus our cornerstone.
QUESTION – what happens to a building or a church or a life that does not have a solid foundation?
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” - Matthew 7:24-27
I remember making the Facebook Post several years back…
On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand..." Do you believe this? QUESTION - how has Christ been a solid rock in your life? When was a time that He helped you stay afloat against the overwhelming floods of this life?
Steve, you know our son, Adam, was killed in Afghanistan in February. Nothing in this life has hit me as hard as this.
I still find myself in tears --sometimes sobbing-- over this.
But Jesus has indeed been my Rock throughout this painful time.
For the first 2 months or so, I couldn’t even pray like I wanted to.
Again and again I would try to pray... and all I could manage was “Oh God help me!” or “Oh Jesus help us!”
In all of this one thing remained constant – the knowledge that his promises are true. He is my rock! If I cannot stand firm on Him, I cannot stand firm at all...
For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock? - Ps 18:31
Jesus is…
The Shepherd of the flock
The Head of the body
The Bridegroom of the bride
The Vine of the branches
The Cornerstone of the building
AND B/S… I contend.
That… we as a church,
That… we as individuals
That… our spinning out of control world
Desperately need…
• The care of this Shepherd
• The authority from this Head
• The love of this Bridegroom
• The connection with this Vine and
• The foundation of this Cornerstone
