The Purpose of Christian Community Church
Moving Ahead Together, Part 1
September 5, 2004
There is no such thing in the Christian life as maintenance only movement - forward or backward. If you are not growing spiritually then you are dying spiritually. There is no way getting around that reality. It follows that as a church or a community of faith we are not created for maintenance either, we are created for movement.
Today I want to introduce this series by looking at our purpose as a church. Why does CCC exist? Does it exist because it is the oldest church in Homer? Does it exist because we have a building? Does it exist because those of us who have been here along time want it to exist? Does it exist because it is my church? I want us today to look at Acts 2:42-47 with a bird’s eye view and highlight the five purposes of every church. Then over the next several weeks, I will pick those purposes apart and share how we are going to fulfill them. Then we will review and reinforce them until we are all on the same page or looking at the same map (many ways to get to the number eight – addition, multiplication, division).
Nothing without clarification has a distinction. I want to clarify what makes us distinct as a church. If we know where we are going then we will know how to get there. If I am going on vacation and go to the travel agent and ask to purchase tickets but do not have a destination then I will get nowhere. I.e. illustration for balance
Let’s read the text together.
We see in this text a radical devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and community life. This is evidence of the spirit working in our midst – radical devotion to Christ, Awe of God, selling personal property to help others out, meeting daily for fellowship and worship that flows out of glad and joyful hearts, a respect of the community, and the Lord bringing people to himself.
Our Purpose:
This is not in the order of the text but is the order that most logical for us today.
1. Magnify: We Celebrate God’s Presence and Power in Worship
Our first purpose is worship. There was a sense of awe among the people as well as joy and the response of hearts that stand in awe of God with glad hearts is worship. Take the common statement that he worships the ground she walks on. What do we mean by such a statement?
This is why I say faith is not just knowing truth about the gospel but savoring it. Do we as a people in our minds and hearts worship the ground Jesus walks on? Does he have your attention in such a way that reflects that statement? Not anything else but him. Not ministry, not job, not a relationship, not a toy, but him.
So worship is more than mere actions or doing the right thing. Jesus condemns worship of the religious leaders in Matt 15:8-9 when he says these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me He points to an internal reality that is missing – the heart. So the essence of worship has to do with an inner condition of the heart. The essence of worship is cherishing Christ as gain. Paul says the same thing in Philippians 1:20-21. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. The apostle Paul is saying that he will worship Christ in life or death because to live is gain and die is gain.
If worship is the condition of our hearts then it does not matter what songs are being played or who is playing them. My ability to worship is conditioned primarily upon my heart attitude.
2. MEMBERSHIP: We Incorporate God’s Family into our Community
As Christians, we are not alone in our walk with the Lord, not alone in our relationship with the lord nor are we to minister alone. When Christ created the church he created a community of people that are meant to play together and pray together. This is why I have entitled this serious ‘Moving Ahead Together.’ So our second purpose at CCC is fellowship. What is fellowship? Most of us have a tame view of fellowship in contrast to the New Testament. The phrase here ‘devoted to fellowship’ is a summary statement. If that is true what other words in the passage do you think expand this phrase? It is interesting to note that before he talks about eating together he talks about selling items to help the needy among them. Why do I think that he is expanding upon fellowship? The text tells us that they had everything in common. That phrase comes from the same Greek word.
I want to us to be free from the mundane, business as usual, tame activities we call fellowship. There is something in the life of believers of the NT breathed life into the church. I want us to have a depth of fellowship that explodes with more love for God and explodes with more love for each other. I want us to have a fellowship that explodes with more compassion, more joy, holiness, boldness and courage, and more of Gods power and presence in our midst. That will only come by devoting ourselves to prayer and devoting ourselves to fellowship.
3. MATURITY: We Educate God’s People through Discipleship
The disciples were devoted to the apostles teaching. That is they sat under the teaching of the apostles as learners and doers. The goal of teaching or educating is not information but transformation. The goal is to have Christ formed in us; the goal is to know and love the Lord because Jesus said if you love me, you will obey me. People that are truly passionate about Christ are as passionate about pursuing obedience - Colossians 1:28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. My goal every week is to take us one more step in presenting ourselves mature in Christ – to enlighten the mind and enliven the heart. I desire to enlighten the mind so that we think well about our faith but also to enliven the heart that we are motivated by the spirit to live well. Literally every week I talk to people who lives are changing because of what God is doing through my messages – conviction, issues of personal sin, hope, life decisions, etc.
4. MINISTRY: We Demonstrate God’s Love through Service
If people have a heart for God then they will have a heart to minister. All ministry flows out of our relationship with God. Ministry flows out of what God pours into our hearts and lives. Paul tells us in Romans 5:5 that God has poured his love into our hearts and in ministry we pour that love out toward others. If you are not pouring out you are becoming stagnant. That begins by becoming preoccupied with self. Then that leads to an unhappy and un satisfied life. The less happy we are in God the more critical you will become about the church.
Ministry also flows out of relationship with others. The more relationship or community we have the more ministry will happen naturally and not because it is structured. There is nothing wrong with structure but ministry is more fruitful when it flows out of relationship.
5. MISSION: We Communicate God’s Word through Evangelism
Look at 41 and 47, "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added (notice the passive: the Lord did the adding) that day about three thousand souls." Verse 47b: "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." So the Lord himself, as Jesus said, is building his church (Matt 16:18). Or, as verse 39 says, the Lord is "calling" his people to himself. Mission is the primary reason God has given us his Spirit. Acts 1:8 But 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."
Jesus gave this command to his first followers. If you are a follower of Christ; you are a fisher of men. If you are not fishing; you are not following. The primary purpose for the outpouring of the spirit in the NT is mission – extending the kingdom or the good news of Christ.
Need balance in these five purposes (ie ruler).
God is not done with CCC. God is not finished with us, we have not passed our hey day. We have a future. David fulfilled his purpose for his generation and then he died. With each new generation we must listen to the voice of the spirit to see what he is doing to reach the next generation. With each new generation we must listen to the voice of the spirit to see who he is raising up as leaders and instill vision in them to reach their generation and the next generation. We must die to the old ways of doing things and give birth to new ways of doing things so that we fulfill Gods purpose for this generation and the next. Otherwise CCC will die a slow and God dishonoring death.
Purpose Statement: To bring people to Jesus and membership in his family, develop them into Christlike maturity, and equip them for their ministry in the church and their life mission in the world, in order to magnify God’s name.
