The Major Dynamics Of Church Life Series

The Major Dynamics of Church Life

(Romans 15:1-13)

NOTE: If I could do it over again, I would make three sermons from this text. All three points could have used more elaboration than I gave them. In the first point, I could have demonstrated further that the New Testament purpose for church gatherings is edification/building up. A simple concordance contrast between that and the term "worship" in a church context leans heavily toward an emphasis on edification with worship a natural outcome.

On the second point, I could have spoken more about the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament believer, emphasizing what Paul means (all Scripture is profitable) while not negating the literal meaning of the texts to those who originally received them.

On the third point, I could have demonstrated that Covenants were meant to clarify God's oaths, not muddy them. They were meant to be understood properly as originally given.

1. Most of us have never heard of one of the most important men in history. If not for this man, the world might be a different place.

2. In 1983, one man prevented a nuclear war between the USSR and the USA. Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile had been launched from the United States, followed by up to five more. Petrov judged the reports to be a false alarm, and his decision to disobey orders, against Soviet military protocol, is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war. Investigation later confirmed that the Soviet satellite warning system had indeed malfunctioned [summarized by .boredpanda.com; better documented at www.npr.org].

3. Think about how our lives hung by a thread….behind it all is a Sovereign God. We influence history, and history influences us in varying degrees.

There are many factors that influence church life, incluiding our own personal histories. We carry with us the sum of our past.

4. Although not in exact order, this text echoes the acrostic for JOY; Jesus, Others, Yourself in that order. It is unnatural to give up “me first,” but that is what we must do.

Main Idea: Our personal histories, church history, our culture and experiences all color our view as to what church is about. We need to recalibrate and correct our assumptions by returning to the Scriptures.

I. The Focus of Church Life is EDIFYING One Another So That We Serve God Better (1-3).

In this text, the idea of “hope” keeps resurfacing.

A. This includes patiently TOLERATING the failings of others (1).

B. We are out to PLEASE our brothers and sisters in Christ (2).

1. The concept of “consideration” is falling on hard times.

2. One blogger writes, “…my girlfriend and her best friend have been in a contest to see who can go the longest without showering. They’ve just hit day 22. They smell so bad, I can’t stand to be in the same room with them anymore. I'm really about to dump her.”

3. To edify (build up) means to build a house. Used figuratively for Biblical instruction, helping other believers become stronger in their faith, endure trials, encourage, correct wrong behavior; edification moves us toward spiritual maturity/endurance.

4. The purpose of this upbuilding is not man-centered, but to equip us as God’s servants, and to demonstrate His love for us by our love for one another.

5. Edification term defines why the church gathers. Worship is only part of why a church gathers, but not the whole. That’s why we need relationships in the body. You can worship anonymously but can’t build up others if you don’t talk to others.

6. The rubric for what is be done in a church meeting is edification.

• I Corinthians 14:26b, All things are to be done for edification (NASB)

• Same verse in ESV, Let all things be done for building up.

Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Peter’s imagery in I Peter 2:5, “…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

C. Christ’s EXAMPLE demonstrates concern about BENEFITTING others (3).

II. Our Main TANGENT is Returning to the Scriptures (4-7).

A. Paul links two subjects by emphasizing the IMPORTANCE of Scripture (4).

1. He is linking his teaching about edifying others with the subject of hope, all of which find their origin in the Bible.