I Will Support the Integrity of Our Church
Matthew 5:16
February 1, 2004
Intro:
A. [Ever Met a Christian?]
A father was teaching his son what a Christian should be like.
When the lesson was over the farther got a stab he never forgot.
The little boy asked, “Dad, have I ever met one of these Christians?”
1. Would folks who know you ask that question? Do they know you are a Christian?
2. Would your children ask that question?
B. [Illustration]
The story has been told of a missionary to China who was in language school.
The very first day of class the teacher entered the room and, without saying word, walked down every row of students.
Finally, still without saying a word, she walked out of the room again.
Then she came back and addressed the class.
“Did you notice anything special about me?” she asked.
Nobody could think of anything in particular.
One student finally raised her hand.
“I notice that you had a very lovely perfume,” she said. The class chuckled.
But the teacher said, “That was exactly the point. You see, it will be a long time before any of you will be able to speak Chinese well enough to share the gospel with anyone in Chine. But even before you are able to do that, you can minister the sweet fragrance of Christ to these people by the quality of your lives. It is your lifestyle, lived out among the Chinese people, that will minister Christ to them long before you are able to say one word to them about personal faith in Jesus.”
It is like that with us as well.
Though we may not be eloquent speakers, unbelievers we encounter will be ministered to by the Christ likeness of our lives, if indeed we are Christ-like.
1. The teacher was right! Paul said it this way in (2 Cor 2:15 NIV) For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
2. We are to be a sweet-smelling fragrance to others. What does you life smell like to others?
C. What does your life say to others about Jesus and our church?
1. Does your life add to or take away from the integrity of our church?
2. Jesus said in (Mat 5:16 NIV) In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
3. Jesus wants us to let His light shine through our lives so that our actions will give glory to God.
4. We are to let our light shine in such a way that it gives glory to God and leaves a good fragrance about His body, the church.
5. We are part of His body, but we are not to be body parts that give off body odor—we are to give of a sweet-smelling perfume or cologne!
6. Therefore our membership covenant says, “I will support the integrity of our church in the following three ways, first…
I. …by attending faithfully
(Heb 10:25 NIV) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
A. What does your attendance say about your church and your God?
1. Does your attendance at church testify to the importance of worship?
2. You see, this passage as well as many others in the NT, tell us that church attendance is a very important thing.
3. This passage from Hebrews commands us to meet together regularly.
4. And Luke 4:16 says of Jesus, "He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.
5. It was Jesus’ custom to be in church each week.
6. Is that your custom?
a. Now I didn’t ask, “Are you in church 52 Sunday’s per year?”
b. I said it was Jesus’ custom to be in church each week, is that your custom?
c. Is it the custom of your family to be in church each week? Is that your habit?
d. Is your family in church unless prohibited by illness or required work?
7. Attending worship services is a very important custom for us to have.
8. Do your children understand that church attendance is the custom for your family?
9. Do your other relatives understand that church attendance is the custom of your family?
10. Do your friends and neighbors understand that church attendance is the custom of your family?
11. What does your church attendance say to those around you about your God and your church?
12. Do they understand how important God and your church are to you?
13. Do people see that God and church are a priority to you?
14. Or do they see that other things are sometimes more important to you?
B. Do they see that golf is sometimes a higher priority than church attendance?
1. [No One to Tell]
One Saturday night a pastor said to himself, “No way I can face that congregation tomorrow. I’m going golfing.”
So, he phoned his assistant and told him he wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at church.
Then the pastor arose early that Sunday morning and drove out to the local golf course.
Up in heaven, St. Peter nudged God and said, “You see your servant down there, Lord?
You see what he’s doing?”
God replied, “Mm-hmm.”
Well, aren’t you going to do anything about him?”
God replied, “Don’t worry.”
The truant pastor was the first one to the tee that morning.
He teed up his ball, took a swing, and—oh my, what a shot! It was the best drive he’d ever hit.
As he watched, with disbelief and joy, the ball bounced high on the apron and rolled on the green directly to the flag.
The pastor ran up to the green to find the ball in the cup.
His very first hole-in-one! He danced around the green all excited.
Meanwhile, St. Peter tugged at the Lord’s sleeve.
“God, I thought you were gong to take care of this guy! Now he’s gone and gotten a hole-in-one.”
God replied, “I took care of him. Who do you think he’s going to tell?”
2. Do people see that other things are a higher priority than church attendance for you?
3. What does your church attendance say about God and your church?
4. Are you supporting the integrity of our church by attending faithfully?
II. …by living a godly life
(Phil 1:27 NIV) Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
A. (Matthew 5:16 NIV) In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
1. What does your life say about your God and your Savior?
2. Does your life give evidence of Jesus Christ living in you?
3. Are there things in your life that would lead others away from Christ?
4. Is there adultery or drunkenness or gossip in your life that would lead others astray of the Way?
5. Do people look at your life and give praise to God for what they see?
B. The truth is (like it or not) that others are watching us.
1. Will we be a stepping-stone for them or a stumbling block?
2. Matthew 16:23, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’"
3. Romans 14:13, "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way."
4. 1 Corinthians 8:9, "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak."
5. 2 Corinthians 6:3, "We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited."
6. People are watching us and the Scripture says we need to watch how we live in order to not put any stumbling blocks in their way.
7. There should not be things in our lives that would lead people away from Christ.
C. Now let me say a little about our language as it relates to this subject…
1. I think most of us understand that the way we talk says a lot to others as well.
2. What does it say to others about our God, if we are foul-mouthed people?
3. What does the way we speak testify about God and our church?
4. [Personal illustration]
I have things in my past that I am not proud of, just like you do.
And one of those things was my language.
When I was in the sixth grade, my babysitter said that I “could cuss the wallpaper off the wall.”
But I soon realized that kind of language was not appropriate for a Christian.
I also learned that taking the Lord’s name in vain is not appropriate for a Christian.
Then I realized that no foul language was appropriate for a Christian.
So as I matured physically and spiritually, I got some education.
I learned that there were far more effective words that I could use than swear words.
I now have a much larger vocabulary than I did in the sixth grade and I don’t need to use those words.
I am reminded of this as I read 1 Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me."
And then there is Ephesians 4:29 which also says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (KJV)
D. We need to concern ourselves with our own salvation, but we also need to concern ourselves with the salvation of others.
1. What do our neighbors learn about God and the church from the way we live our life?
2. What does our family learn about God and the church from the way we talk?
3. What does the way we live our life say about our church and our God?
E. The things that come out of our mouths as well as our actions testify to others.
1. There are activities that we can choose in our society that we all know will not bring good testimony to Christ and the church.
2. What about the activities that we participate in?
3. Do they testify of our belief in Christ?
4. [Illustration]
Allowing the encumbrances and sins of the world to clog your life affects your witness in the world in the same way water in the kerosene affects a camping stove.
The flame will flutter and sputter, or maybe go out completely.
It is useless for light or heat.
Likewise, when our lives are fouled with impurities in our spiritual fuel tank, our light will sputter—until the fuel is again clean.
F. I am concerned about how my light shines and its usefulness.
1. I am concerned about the words that come out of my mouth and the actions of my life and their affect on the eternity of others.
2. Does the way you conduct your life support the integrity of our church?
III. …by giving regularly
(1 Cor 16:2 NIV) On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
A. We don’t make many special pleas for money here at Somerset.
1. The reason is simple.
2. We believe that if we are doing what God wants us to do, He will supply the money.
3. We believe that if we teach people what the Bible says about money, they will give.
4. We believe that if we teach what the Scriptures say about giving, the money that we need to support the church and its missions will be there.
5. And as most of you know, offerings were the highest ever in 2003 and we praise God for that!
B. The apostle Paul gives some important truths when it comes to giving…
1. Paul says we should give on a regular basis.
2. Paul says that we should take out of our checks a percentage in keeping with our income.
3. Paul says we should save that money and give it on the next Sunday.
4. Paul says that if we give like we should, we shouldn’t have to take up many special offerings.
C. Now Paul says that we should give on the first day of every week.
1. Therefore we give every Sunday.
2. Now there are dozens of scriptures about the Christian and his money.
3. But in this particular passage, Paul says that we need to give regularly.
4. We need to give a percentage (a proportion) of our income to the work of God on a regular basis.
5. Paul encourages us to do it weekly, and for a lot of people that is appropriate.
6. Others get paid bi-weekly and may just want to give bi-weekly.
7. Others get paid only monthly and may just want to give monthly.
8. How often we give is not nearly as important as how regularly we give.
9. We need to give a percentage of our income on a regular basis.
D. Now some may ask why this is important to this discussion about our testimony.
1. Well let me ask if when others see us making an expenditure with our money do they think that expenditure is more important than our church?
2. I believe they do, because most of us have to chose what we are going to spend our money on.
3. Most of us would like to give to every organization that calls us on the telephone for a donation.
4. But the truth is that most of us can’t do that; we have to decide what’s most important to us and give to only those that we can afford to give to.
5. Our checkbooks have a lot to say about what is really important to us, don’t they?
6. We can tell what our priorities are by what we spend our money on.
7. We don’t spend our money on things that aren’t important to us.
8. And the choices that we make with our money, testifies to others about what God and our church mean to us.
9. Does our giving support the integrity of our church?
Conclusion:
A. How well does your light shine?
1. Jesus said, "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
2. To what does your life testify?
B. [Illustration]
Four ministers were discussing the pros and cons of various Bible translations and paraphrases.
Eventually each stated which version, in his opinion, was the best.
The first minister said he used the King James because the Old English style is beautiful and produces the most reverent picture of the Holy Scriptures.
The second said he preferred the New American Standard Bible because he felt it comes nearer to the original Greek and Hebrew texts.
The third minister said his favorite was the paraphrased Living Bible because his congregation was young, and it related to them in a practical way.
All three men waited while the fourth minister sat silently.
Finally he said, “I guess when it comes to translations and paraphrased editions of the Bible, I like my Dad’s translation best. He put the Word of God into practice every day. It was the most convincing translation I’ve ever seen.”
1. Is your life a living translation of the Holy Scriptures?
2. Is your life a convincing testimony of the power of Jesus Christ in your life?
C. It is the desire of my heart to let my light shine in such a way as to bring praise to my Father in heaven.
1. Therefore I will support the integrity of our church in the following three ways…
a. …by attending faithfully,
b. …by living a godly life, and
c. …by giving regularly.
2. Can you make that same commitment?
D. [Illustration]
Jesus stressed the positive effect we can have on others when He said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 RSV).
But if sin dims our testimony so that our “light” is no longer visible, some of those we might have influenced for Christ may drift on in spiritual darkness.
On a dark and stormy night, with waves piling up like mountains on Lake Erie, a boat rocked and plunged near the Cleveland harbor.
“Are we on course?” asked the captain, seeing only one beacon from the lighthouse.
“Quite sure, sir,” replied the officer at the helm.
“Where are the lower lights?”
“Gone out, sir.”
“Can we make the harbor?”
“We must, or perish!” came the reply.
With a steady hand and a stalwart heart, the officer headed the ship toward land.
But, in the darkness, he missed the channel and the vessel was dashed to pieces on the rocks.
Many lives were lost in a watery grave.
This incident moved Philip P. Bliss to write the familiar hymn, “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.”
1. Our Father brightly beams His light from His lighthouse in heaven, but He has entrusted to us the keeping of the lower lights here on earth.
2. How are you doing with the light that He has entrusted to you?
3. Do you need to receive that light by being saved immersed with Him in Christian baptism?
4. Are there things in your life that are not supporting the integrity of our church?
5. The answer is not to run away from the church; the answer is to run to Jesus!!
6. Perhaps today you need to come and speak to God about your attendance.
7. Perhaps you need to come and speak to God about things in your life that don’t need to be there.
8. Perhaps you need to come and speak to God about your giving.
9. Whatever commitment you need to make, you make it as we stand and sing our song of commitment: #181 “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning”
