The Simple Facts of Church Life
(Romans 16:1-27)
Intro
1. What an experience I had last Sunday at the home of Ted and Janie Martin (explain story of flat tire and “lobster” cable clamp
2. Ted Martin and Neil tried not to laugh, but Brett lost it. The rest of the gusy should have, too. It was FUNNY. But it was great to be with those guys because we have a warm church.
3. In 2005, we try to build churches that are adapted to our culture but that are anchored to the timeless principles of Scripture. And Romans 16 addresses some of these.
Main Idea: We must get the simple things right. The elementary principles of church life are among the most important principles of church life.
Incidentally, these same principles apply to the family!!!!
I. Strong Personal RELATIONSHIPS Make A Strong Congregation (1-16, 21-23)
26 individuals mentioned, 24 by name
A. Paul had never visited the Roman church, but he had met many ELSEWHERE
1. The early church’s strategy for outreach emphasized winning extended family GROUPS, as evidenced by Paul’s relatives Andronicus and Junias (7) and Herodian (11).
2. He had built strong BONDS with a number of the Roman Christians, some of whom he met when they were in temporary EXILE from Rome
3. Some were GOVERNMENT servants, others unusually HARD WORKERS in God’s Kingdom, while others are mentioned as BELOVED.
· Epaenetus was Paul’s first convert in Asia
· Rufus (13) was the son of Simon the Cyrene (he helped carry the cross) –see Mark 15:21
B. Notice the importance of WOMEN in the early church (9 out of 26)
Although the Apostles were all men, and although the office of elder is restricted to MALES (I Timothy 2:9-3:7), women played a GREAT role in the early church
· Phoebe is called a deaconess in the Greek; she was visiting Rome, so Paul sent a letter to vouch for her; Christians are always wise to protect themselves from charlatans, addicts, etc.; there is nothing spiritual about being gullible
· Priscilla and Aquila worked as a team, risking their lives, host the church in their house (3-5); in Acts 18, they were instrumental in leading Apollos to a deeper faith in the Lord
· many women mentioned in this passage
C. The Kiss of verse 16 --- not a ritual, but an ancient form of greeting and affection; perhaps equivalent to the modern hug
D. Families too: control young children with authority, influence teens by relationship
We must get the simple things right. The elementary principles of church life are among the most important principles of church life. The first principle is:
Strong Personal RELATIONSHIPS Make A Strong Congregation
There is a second elementary principle:
II. Even Strong Congregations Are in DANGER (17-18)
1. The Danger of DIVISION
· division over important truths is a good thing
· division over trivia or preferences is not so good
2. The Danger of DECEPTION
· A lot of false teachings have seemingly good arguments behind them
3. Their motivation is grounded in EGO
· people with low self-esteem can have a field day in church
· in sports, if you are unathletic, you don’t make the team; in scholastics, if you are not smart or do not study, you do not make the grade; at work, if you don’t produce well, you do not rise; but, because churches are accepting and because everyone matters, sometimes people exploit that to build their egos
· When ego is extended, it becomes insanity; consider the original sin of Lucifer…
· P-24
4. Do you think we have the same dangers today?
· Absolutely!
· There is nothing that we believe that someone else, claiming to be a Christian, denies…
5. Families too: Your family is in danger of all sorts, seemingly coming out of nowhere….must be alert, not passively keeping our head in the sand…
We must get the simple things right. The elementary principles of church life are among the most important principles of church life. The first principle is:
Strong Personal RELATIONSHIPS Make A Strong Congregation. The second elementary principle is:
Even Strong Congregations Are in DANGER
But there is a third elementary principle worth our consideration:
III. We Must NAVIGATE Through Dangerous Waters (19-20)
It is one thing to be aware that dangers exist, another to know what this implies, careful navigation.
Folks, this is crucial. The challenges to the Christian are always changing, and when we try to answer questions form the year 2005 with answers from 1925, they just don’t work;
Navigation is a constant need…
1. We must guard our personal ATTITUDE (19)
----discerning obedience, not blind obedience…
----a serious attempt to avoid sinful behavior to the point that we become a bit culturally naïve…
-----have no doubt about it, Satan wants to take you out…in this war, every foot soldier counts…
JB Phillips, “I want to see you experts in good and not even beginners in evil”
· In the old days of train travel, people would jump from railroad car to car; I imagine sometimes people slipped or tripped…and that was the end…
· When we mess around the edges of sin, we can slide into it…
· E.g., movies, brainwashing music, coveting…
2. We must recognize our ADVERSARY (20)
---the Roman believers must have been going through some great trials or persecutions…
the crushing of Satan is a temporary preview of his final crushing (Gen. 3:16)
Some attacks more vicious than others…just as Satan left Jesus for a while when he had tempted Him in the wilderness, so he lays off when he cannot succeed….”resist the devil and he will flee” (James 4:7); when we do not resist, the implication is that he stays…
3. Is Satan more active, less active, or just as active as he was then?
4. His strategies: sowing wheat among the tares, inhibiting the sharing of the Gospel, enticing believers to fall into sin that will negate their credibility, distracting churches and Christians from their true mission by focusing on side-issues, creating societies and cultures that make the Gospel sound absurd or make it difficult for Christians to live Christ-like lives, breaking up families….doing whatever he can to distract from God’s glory….
5. Sometimes people will say, “That church has problems.” What they hopefully mean is, “That church is handling its problems in the wrong way.” But if they think churches exist without problems, they either are not familiar with church life or they just dropped off of some planet somewhere.
6. God wants to try to preclude many problems be forewarning ourselves so that we can be forearmed, and one forewarning is to be on the lookout for troublemakers….an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure; but not all problems can be prevented; in that case, the issue becomes damage control
7. Many of you folks will never know the troubles we have precluded, by the grace of God, in years gone by…not that we have a perfect track record, or could have…
8. The trick: reasonable precaution & discernment but not paranoia…you will not develop people if you do not trust them…and sometimes they might let you down; that is not the same as danger…
9. Families too: We must have a game plan; discuss situations beforehand
· kinds of friends, things you can/cannot do, movies you can/cannot watch
· dating standards: “Prepare Your Child for Dating”
· communicate expectations of life: age to marry, etc.
We must get the simple things right. The elementary principles of church life are among the most important principles of church life. The first principle is:
Strong Personal RELATIONSHIPS Make A Strong Congregation. The second elementary principle is:
Even Strong Congregations Are in DANGER
The third elementary principle is: We Must NAVIGATE Through Dangerous Waters. But there is a fourth such principle:
IV. We Must Focus On Our Mission (25-27)
No one description of our mission, but it is well summarized by
1.REACH, “so that all nations may believe” (26)
2. CONNECT to others, as evidenced above, and to God through Christ (27)
3. DEEPEN, the idea of “establish” in verse 25
4. If we get off on tangents, then we will not be as effective….
….Making the world a better place
…..Building the most beautiful church building in town
…..Making everyone happy
…..Trying to match the quality of Hollywood in music, décor, or presentation
5. Families too: must not let other organizations do what a family is supposed to do: spending time together, talking, playing together…you do not want subcontractors doing all this….they add, but should not replace
We must get the simple things right. The elementary principles of church life are among the most important principles of church life. The first principle is:
Strong Personal RELATIONSHIPS Make A Strong Congregation. The second elementary principle is:
Even Strong Congregations Are in DANGER
The third elementary principle is: We Must NAVIGATE Through Dangerous Waters. The fourth principle is: We Must Focus On Our Mission
CONCLUSION
1. The task of the church is crucial.
2. Church is a contract between those of us who make up this church and God.
3. We’ve got to be united, heading together in God’s direction, knowing why we do what we do…
4. The great doctrines of Romans are committed to the church; if the church is unhealthy, then Romans (and much of God’s truth) becomes buried.
5. God’s program for this age is the church, and healthy churches are better able to glorify God.
6. Are you committed to our church? To our spiritual, doctrinal, moral, and relational health? Do you realize that when you say, “The church needs to be this way or do that, “ that “the church” is found in the mirror.
7. You are the church. I am the church. We are the church together.
