Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Or online. My name is Brent Amato, and I have the privilege of being an elder at this church and having the opportunity to bring God's word to you today.
I would be remiss if I didn't make a special greeting to two people that have never visited our church before. They are Brad and Beth Grossman in the second row there. Brad and Beth and Sherry and I went to the same church for more years than I can remember, and they have been fellow traveling west for a very, very long time. And so, thank you for being here. I will try to be on my best behavior. Okay.
And I know all of you have seen Craig here today, and some of you may be wondering, well, wait a minute. Why isn't Craig preaching? This is a classic bait and switch, but hear me out. Now, Craig spent the last week in Canada with his mother, and this was a blessed time for him and for his mother. And if I understand correctly, his mother had a gigantic do list for him.
Yes, she did. And so he's come back and he's a little weary, and so we're giving him a break. But Mother Jarvis, if you're online, I want you to know that we're grateful that you released him. You let him come back. Thank you for that.
I have a question for you. Always have a question for you. No, lawyers are good at that. My question is, how would I describe Village church east to someone who asked about my local church? Or if I can flip that. I would ask you, how would you respond if someone asked you about your local church, village church east? I'm thinking of my response, and it starts off, well, here's the name of the church, and here its location is Fountain view here on Carroll Stream. And I might tell them about the size of the church and maybe the number of average attendees. And I might tell them the structure. We're a setup church. We're not just a regular church like that. And I would tell them the preacher's Craig Jarvis.
What would be your response if someone asked you to tell them about village church east?
With all due respect, none of the above things that I use to respond to that question fit what the Bible teaches about the local church. What if I were to understand what the biblical blueprint of the village church east should look like in the New Testament? Would my answer be different? Would it be consistent with God's blueprint? That's where we're going today, the local church. Now, none of you have probably built a building, and neither have I. But I'm thinking that when you're constructing a building, you don't start with brick and mortar, a foundation. You don't start with framing the walls. You start with what's called an architectural model, a blueprint. And that's something on paper that shows what the building is going to look like when completed. And there might even be a depiction. You could see it physically, you could touch it, but it is a depiction of something that will be and come to pass.
God has a blueprint for our church. And not only does God have a blueprint for our church, he has a blueprint for our church, for our blessings and for which we are accountable to God and each other.
The local church is biblically based. I don't see man basing in any of the godly words about the local church. I don't find denominations in the word of God. I find biblically based guidelines. And it is way beyond a street address. It's way beyond a physical building. It is about God's purpose, and it's about God's people.
There is a text that I want us to focus on. It's in Ephesians four, and it's verses eleven through 15 with a little break in the middle. And I really want you to be focused on that because I might have already lost you. And I want you to be riveted on what the blueprint is. So as I go through the sermon, you can see how it is making hopefully more sense to me and to you. So I would like you to read along with me. You see it on the screen there and the slides. Let's read together.
And he gave some apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists, and some as pastor teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. Until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ speaking the truth in love. We are to grow up in all aspects into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together, to that which every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Now, I know that's a lot, but we're going to try to digest that now so it becomes applicable for me and for you in a way that gets us closer to God's blueprint. First of all, let me just clarify these players that are at the start of this particular text. This was written in the early Church days. And in those days, there were people called apostles. And apostles were people that were sent out with a special message or communication. So, for example, Jesus chose the disciples, and then he sent them out. They were apostles in a sense. Paul calls himself an apostle. He went on three missionary trips around the world at that particular time. Those were the apostles, and it also mentions prophets. And these were people who were divinely inspired at that time to communicate God's will to his people and to disclose the future to them. Old Testament prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. And then there are evangelists. What's an evangelist? One who proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ on these missionary trips. What was Paul talking about? He was talking about the Gospel. He and Timothy and Silas and Luke went out and they were evangelists. There are still evangelists today, obviously, and hopefully and with VCE that should be in our fabric, our DNA.
There were also saints in the Old Testament. They were called God fearing. This was before Christ appeared. And in the New Testament, they are Christ followers and believers. And then there's one other category, person office position. And it's called pastor. And some of your translations May say, Anne, teacher, but trust me, in the Greek, there's something different about these two words. They are connected in a way that none of the other words are connected. They are connected with something maybe you might view as a hyphen. So it's pastor teacher.
Now, here we have Craig Jarvis. He's our lead pastor, and to a lesser extent, John Naraki and I are elders as well. But let me just make a personal observation that has nothing to do with the text, but everything to do with VCE. Sherry and I have been around for a long time. We call ourselves dinosaurs, and we've sat under a lot of pastors and teachers. Just trust us. That has been the case. And I would say to you on behalf of Sherry and myself, that there has never been a better pastor teacher that we have sat under than Craig Jarvis. He is unique, and he is constantly faithful as a steward and a shepherd. To us, a shepherd is one that took care of the flocked, watched the flocked, and led them and guided them. And I got to tell you, over the years that we have known Craig, he has shepherded Sherry and I and our kids and even sometimes our grandkids in a unique and faithful way. And in terms of preaching, what does he always say to us? His favorite time is on Sunday when he gets to see us and share the word of God with us. We are always sherry and I learning something every week.
Leviticus. Are you kidding me?
We're learning from Leviticus. Thank you, Craig. And he always is so passionate. So just a word out with regard to how VCE is doing. With regard to a pastor, teacher, I think we're doing just fine.
I want to share with you some slides that pick apart and go deeper with regard to this Ephesians passage. So I'm going to reference some phrases and sort of give you some commentary on them. And as we go through them, I want you to ask yourself, don't just stare at a slide numb. I want you to ask yourself, is this true of VCE? And am I contributing this to the VCE experience? Am I being faithful to God's blueprint? This is not something just to learn for knowledge sake. This is something to change the way we think, the way we feel, the way we talk, and the way we act. The first phrase is equipped. Saints. That is a word. Picture that word equipped of getting ready for a long journey. It's not just from here to across the street or back to your house. It's a long journey. Consider Columbus. He was getting ready to go over a long, large body of water, and it wasn't something he just said, oh, I'm going to get on the boat and go. It took months. Long period of time for him to equip himself with people and supplies and resources before he went on the trip. So when you're thinking equipped, think of something that is a long journey. It's not a brief enthusiasm, it is not a shortcut. It also deals with spiritual progress and maturity. Nothing less than Christlikeness. If you're going to call yourself one that is being equipped, know that the catch for that is that it is more and more Christlikeness in all that you are. I love Philippians one six. Philippians one six, says Paul. Talking to the Philippians, he says, I'm confident about one thing for you people, you Philippi people. And here's what he says. I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect or complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Well, first of all, let's understand the day of Christ Jesus. That's Christ's return. So something should be happening between now and that return. There should be some sort of completion, some sort of maturity, some sort of perfection. And the Bible gives us one really great clue about that. Some of you are holding a Bible in your hand. Some of you have apps. I don't care. It doesn't make any difference with regard to your technology. But you know, in two Timothy 316 and 17, it says, this Bible is inspired by no less than God. This Bible is profitable, and then it tells you why. And then the Punchline is, sow that. And you know what the. So that is that you might be fully equipped for every good work. So I would encourage each of you to spend more time in the word, read more of the word, meditate more on the word, and obey more of the Word. That's equipped. Saints. What's the second phrase? The second phrase is a work of service.
Did you know that? The Bible says that you were created a long time ago, even before you were a hint or an imagination of your parents. You were created before the beginning of time for good works. I love that God had a plan before we were even around. And it is serving God, and it is those serving. Serving those on earth at and through where most primarily the local church.
The third phrase, you see, the third phrase, it's grow up.
How many times you that have had kids have hoped that your children would grow up and just get beyond infancy or immaturity and whatnot? And you know what? Sherry and I have two kids and we have six grandkids. And our heart's desire is that we, in addition to them, would continue to grow up. The words grow up are repeated. A teacher loves to see something repeated because it's a methodology of learning. When you see something in Scripture, sure, grip it, learn it, apply it. But when you see it repeated, you say, ah, maybe I should really think about this. So God is telling you in his blueprint, lest you missed it, that he wants you and I to grow up.
Do you by any chance remember the sermon that Craig preached? Three years. Three years. It seems like three years, three weeks ago. It was a sermon primarily with regard to baptism, but the focus was not on baptism. You remember what the focus was? The title of the sermon was Milk or meat, hopefully Craig, some of them remember that. But what was he driving at? He was driving at personal growth. At the end of sermons, many times you hear me or pastor or other people say, well, what's your next step? And, you know, some of you walk out of here and I can't blame you, but maybe some of you have no next step. I'm telling you, that's inconsistent with growing up. You always need to have a next step. So I need one. You need one. Grow up.
The next phrase. The knowledge of Jesus. Did you know that two. Peter 318 says that we are to grow up in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Well, is that happening?
Do you wake up in the morning saying, oh, God, would you please help me learn more about my savior Jesus Christ? Or you just get ready with your own personal hygiene and go on with your agenda? Is learning more about Jesus one of your main agenda?
A year ago you knew something about Jesus. Do you know more about Jesus now than you did a year ago? We are told to grow in the knowledge. There's a beautiful picture in the New Testament about a vine and its branches, and it calls us to task with regard to abiding. The word abiding means to stay under the control of. It's sort of a relationship that is really essential to life. And here we have Jesus and we have the branches, and we are the branches. And it says that we are to derive our nourishment, our strength, our very life from Jesus Christ.
So we are called to abide, and that is one way that we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. There's another way that we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ that you might not been aware of.
It's revolutionary to me because it changes my whole perspective with regard to what my day looks like. It links revelation of Jesus Christ to obedience. How do I know that? Am I making that up? No, that is in John 1421 and 23. And here's the formula. Jesus says to people that are willing to listen, if you love me, you will obey me. Okay, that makes sense. Okay. But it goes on further. And it says, if you love me and obey me, I will disclose myself to you. Does that sound like growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? And if that's not enough, two verses later, Jesus says, I wonder if they got it. So he goes through the same formula. He says, if you love me, you will obey me. And if you obey me. And here's what he says, now, I and my father will make our abode in you and disclose further. Now, what's an abode? Maybe you've never heard that word before. It's a permanent dwelling. It's not just some tent that you pitch and then you take it up. It is a permanent dwelling. And obedience is going to lead to God the Father and God the Son, making their abode with you.
That's growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
What's the next phrase? Building up the body of Christ. Guess what? That's repeated too. So ding ding, ding, ding. Now we have two things that are being repeated that you say, well, if I don't get anything else, maybe I'll get those two things, and one of them is building up the body of Christ.
Is VCE being built up that way? You know, I gotta say, as an elder and leader of this church, Pastor and John and I and you, we think a little bit about moving into a permanent facility, don't we? We've used that. It's in our agenda and whatnot. But I'm wondering whether we're focusing more on changing a geographical location for more convenience and comfort or building up what we have right here.
If God never calls us to a permanent building, that is okay. And so we got to get away from thinking there's a better place for us to worship you. No, there is no better place other than where you are worshipping God.
What's the next phrase? Unity of the faith.
We are called to be unified. So when you walked in this morning to the building or when you walked into this place, did you say, you know what? I'm going to seek to see if I can do anything to facilitate more unity at this particular church? Or did you just find a seat and just listen, sang, and hopefully learn something? But you never focused on the unity that needs to be gained, because the blueprint of Christ and God calls for it.
What is that unity? Philippians. Again, one of my favorite books, in fact. Did you know the women are going through Philippians men? Aren't you glad the women are going through the Book of Philippians? I am thrilled. In fact, the wedding ring that sherry and I wear, if you were to take it off and look inside, you'd see an inscription says, Philippians two, one and two. So what's going on in those two verses that has to do with unity? Well, first of all, Paul reminds us that there's this Trinity going on, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And then he says something strange. He says, make my joy complete. Now, this is Paul, super saint, as it were, and he's going to tell the Philippians how he's going to be joyful. And it deals with unity, and it has four aspects to it. So listen to what he describes as a goal for that particular local church. At Philippi, he says, oh, that you guys could have the same mind. We're talking about the mind of Christ, nothing else. Not your own machinations. The mind of Christ. And by the way, did you know that your mind can be captive to Christ? Second, he says, the same love. What are we talking about? Not anything that we can dwell up and we can raise up and we can produce. It's the love of God. Agape love, unconditional love. It is the fruit of the Spirit. We go through the nine attributes. What's the first one? Love. And so he's saying, let's be unified in mind and love. And then he says, the same spirit. I'm thinking we're talking the Holy Spirit. Each of you that has accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior has the same Holy Spirit in you, dwelling in you will never leave. And he says, wow, would this be cool if we got that spirit activated for unity? And then he finally says, and the same purpose. So if I was to get along with you, not to embarrass you, but just to ask and say, tell me, does Village Church have any mission? Does it have any vision? And what might that be? Maybe you might know. Maybe you're not. I'm going to tell you again what it is. You can find it in the Constitution. You can find it in our literature. You can find it in our preaching. It is to build a church. And disciples who do three things, go, grow and overcome. Go, because that's the great commission. Jesus is saying to these disciples, here's the deal. Here's the Blueprint. Now, I'm going, but I want you to go and make disciples. Are you involved in that activity outside of the churCh, but encouraged within the church to that end? Do you have someone in mind? Second, it's to grow. There's that word again. We can't get away from it. You can be petrified wood, you can be growing at a weak pace, or you can be growing fervently. It all depends on your relationship with God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I aspire that for you, the elders aspire that for us and for you.
Overcome. This world is not perfect. We know that. We see things happening around the world, and the world, the flesh and the devil are conspiring to make sure that we don't go and we don't grow. Fight that, because it is a pack of lies and it is doing nothing but diffusing the power that you have for God to advance his kingdom. So when I ask you, pull you over to the side, maybe in a week or two, and say, by the way, do you know the mission of Village Church East? I remember it. It has some letters in it.
I remember it. The letters G.
I remember it. Oh, yeah. Go, grow.
Overcome. What's the next phrase? Truth and love. Oh, that we may be seeking truth. We hear it from Pastor Craig and others who preach to us, and it is always there from the word. And thy word is truth and the other is love, that we are to love each other in a special way that marks us as disciples.
When you think of village church east, do the first two words that come to mind, are they truth and love or something else?
Finally, and I love this picture, it says fitted and held together. Proper working of each individual part. Do you think that's happening here at Village Church east in a way that's consistent with God's blueprint? Are we fitted together? You get that sense? Fitted together. Sometimes things don't fit right. A round peg in a square hole doesn't fit. But we are called to be fitted together and then proper working. Are we working properly? Each individual part. This brings to mind body parts. One Corinthians twelve talks about the diversity of the body, and it says, one of us is an arm, one of us is a leg, one of us is an eye, et cetera, et Cetera. And it says, we're all important, we are all valued, we are all needed. The body can't work properly unless is fitted together.
As we go through these phrases, do you see? Do you hear, do you understand God's blueprint for the local church?
How am I, how are you? How are we applying that to Village church East?
The Big idea is God has a blueprint for the local church.
It is a blueprint for our blessings from God, for which we are accountable to God and others. And that takes me to my second point. It is for our benefit. It is for our blessings. Romans twelve five says, so we, though we are many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.
Remember, I'm talking here about members that are body parts. Body parts are essential. Body parts are supposed to work together. They are supposed to be working properly. Why are there doctors? Because sometimes our body parts don't work the way they should. Churches sometimes get in that funk.
Look around. I know that's threatening. It's dark. You can avoid that, but look around. You can't avoid each other. You can't. And more importantly, you can't neglect each other. We need to be about that inner relationship that God has called us to in his blueprint. But there's even something deeper. It is a sense of what I call belonging. Talk to psychologists and they'll tell you that one of the greatest human needs that you and I have, don't deny it, because it's true, is a sense of belonging. And that will happen as we become individually members one of another.
Now let's think about that for a second.
What have you been a member of or are a member of. What have I been a member of? And I'm thinking of four things that come to mind immediately. Sherry and I are members of Costco.
We are also members of Brookfield Zoo. We are. And I was a member of a college fraternity in my days before Christ. And now I'm a member of the Christian Legal Society, which deals with lawyers and law students. So the question should be not what are you a member of? But why? And we're all members of things because of benefits, things that we derive from that particular affiliation. So, for example, they could be tangible. At Costco, we save money.
Brookfield Zoo, we enhance the ability to give recreational life to our family and our grandkids and it saves us money. Those are tangible things. But, you know, remember I said that there's a sense of belonging that's important for us to grasp as VCE. So let's talk about these other two I mentioned. Before I became a Christian, I was seeking an identity. I was seeking a sense of belonging, a community. I had none.
[00:27:27] Speaker B: Social fraternity.
Why? Because I felt like I belonged.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: It was very cool in my perspective at that time to belong to a fraternity and have other people call me their brother.
Times change, though, and that sense of belonging may find a more important and noble pursuit.
Sense of belonging needs to be something important that nurtures you physically, emotionally, mentally, and hopefully, spiritually.
Costco? Not really.
Brookfield Zoo? Not really college fraternity? No. The exact opposite. Christian Legal Society. Yes. And VCE should be in that category.
Now let me just clarify something with regard to the use of the word member. You might immediately think, well, that means to be a member formally of a particular church. And while that may be something for you to consider who aren't, let me just share with you that in an organizational sense, whether someone becomes a member or not, there is an organizational concept to the local church. In the Bible, for example, God keeps a list of believers. Why would he do that if there wasn't an organizational concept involved? The New Testament sent out specific letters to groups of believers. Why, if there was no organizational content, the local church kept a list of widows. Well, who needs that? If there's no organizational content, there was an accountability and commitment to a specific body of believers found in one Corinthians five. And here's probably the most important. The church leAders, like Pastor Craig, like me, like John, were expected to know who specifically they were spiritually responsible for. So I'm sharing with you there's biblical support for this notion of members and membership.
Now, how can we best get our eyes and ears and hearts and minds and arms around these blessings. I would share with you that there is a tool in the New Testament. It's found all over the New Testament, and it's an exhortation from Paul to these various churches, and they all have the same phrase. That phrase is one another. You've already heard one of them members, one of another. So here's the question as I take you through these one another's that are part of this blueprint and therefore are blessing.
Are you experiencing those here at VCE, and are you sharing those with others at VCE?
Some of you technocrats might want to take a picture of this slide, but let me go through them quickly and share with you what they are trying to communicate to me and you as to the blessings that we have if we do the blueprint right. You notice there's two columns, the column on the left and the column on the right. They're divided for a reason. The ones on the left, pretty easy to do, maybe. And the ones on the right are a little more provocative and a little more challenging. But let's go through them quickly. I just want to make an observation about each of them. And as I make the observation, ask yourself, are you experiencing them? And then, second of all, are you sharing them? If you are not, I'm not condemning you, but we might not be fitting together properly, working as Village Church east. So what comes first? Greet. I think we're doing pretty well. We've got greeters at the door there that come in. And then did you notice before we went to musical worship and preaching, what'd you do? You were asked to get up and interact with one another. So I think with regard to greeting, we have it. But I'm mindful that many churches are like two ships passing in the night for their participants and attendees. You're Walking down a hall and you're a little bit late for service. You're walking down a hall, you're a little bit late for a Sunday school class or an ABF and whatnot. And someone comes by you and you know them and they say, how you doing? And you just keep walking, and you say, fine.
[00:31:45] Speaker B: The person who said, how you doing? Really didn't want to answer.
Second of all, the person who said, think about greeting in a special way.
Second, welcome.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: This means making people feel at home. When Sherry and I have someone over at our house and pastor and Beth are so good at this, they make you feel at home. Is that what's happening when you get together as a village church east, do you feel at home, or do you feel like a solitary person, just sort of stuck on a seat, not interacting with anybody?
How about rejoicing and weeping? Granted, there are mountaintop experiences and there are valleys in each one of our lives. You have them, I have them. No one is immune from them. So are you experiencing rejoicing? When someone experiences a mountaintop experience, do you delight in that?
Do you get excited about hearing that? And on the other side, when you know someone is hurting and they are in the pits, whether it be the pits of hell, the Valley of death, whatever, are you commiserating with them, and are you weeping with them? That's part of the one another's. How about kindness? Be kind. You know what the definition of kindness is? Friendly, sympathetic, gentle, tender hearted and generous. Does that describe us?
[00:33:18] Speaker B: How about take care of. That means be concerned, be interested, pay close attention, be responsible, protect. Does that sound like instruct one another? I know it's all, I'm not teacher. I don't do any teaching. But I'm not talking about formal teaching.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: I'm talking about the ability to give maybe a word of counsel, wise advice to someone who just wants an opinion about something from you that might be biblically based. And then finally on this side, encourage. And you say, well, I got that one. I know that one. I've always heard that one. But let me get in your face here a little bit. Did you come in here this morning with the intent of encouraging someone?
Oh, I'm late. Oh, I've got something to do after this. Someone's bothering me. I don't know what to do, et cetera, et cetera. But if you don't come in with the intention of encouraging at least one person, it probably won't happen. It is an intentionality that I think we should seek to be more fervent about.
Well, that's the list on the left. And you're saying, okay, are you going to meddle with me some more? Yes, I am. So take a look at the list on the right.
Be at peace.
I love the fact that life is predictable and conflict is inevitable. You can find it in Scripture, but you know it from personal experience. And I do love the phrase that says, when two or more gathered together, there is Jesus and there's God, and there's all sorts of spiritual things happening. But as a lawyer for 40 years, I always observed when two people gather together, there's conflict. And you know what? That's just because of the nature of who we are. So when you think about being at peace, are you willing to accept other people? Are you willing to confess to other people when maybe you have offended them? Are you willing to grant forgiveness when someone here has offended you?
How about serve?
I think we're doing a well, good job. And that's because Pastor always points out that the vast majority of us are serving in some way. I loved it.
Little kids serving VCE. So continue to serve. But let's not pat ourselves on the back and let's understand the ultimate measure of service.
Come with me to the Last Supper. Jesus. About ready to face the most horrific event of anyone's life that they could ever consider. Death on a cross bearing all the sins of the entire world for me. And you.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: Wash their feet so you understand the culture. Culture is that in those days when someone came over to someone else's house.
[00:36:25] Speaker A: The owner house would have a servant wash the feet of the people, sort of get the dust of the Road off. And that was expected. But here, the Son of God, who was going to face the cross, washed all his disciples feet. And who was included in that group? Judas.
So when you're thinking about serving, pat yourself on back for maybe set up or set down or preaching from time to time or doing this or that. But know that service is to be Christlike. And the more Christlike we are, the better we are fitted together for his purpose. How about honor? What does it mean to honor someone to respect greatly or have high regard for? That's not to hold them up in flattery or higher than they should be held, but to hold them with respect. Don't you want respect? I want respect. Everyone wants respect. And so to honor other people in some small or large way is a really cool thing. What happened here? Just before the music started, what did Megan do? She gave honor to Pastor Craig. I love it. Thank you. Megan.
Bearing burdens.
Do you consciously bear the burdens of others? It helps sometimes to be in a community group because it's more up close and personal. But do you bear the burdens of each other? Here I am mindful again of what Jesus did. He bore the burdens of every sin ever committed or will be committed forever on him. He became sin who was sinless so that you could become righteous. So when you're thinking about bearing burdens, know that Christ made the ultimate sacrifice and say, oh, Lord, help me to bear burdens like you do.
How about submit? Submit to one another?
This is not natural for us. If I were to confess to you many times, I'm more self absorbed than I'm other absorbed. I've got a lot of things on my mind and they rotate around me and I want to go back to Philippians again. Philippians two. After he talks about unity of the faith and spirit and mind and purpose and love, you know what he says? And don't engage in selfish ambition or empty conceit. Consider others as more important than yourself. Time out. Just stop there for a second and look around. And do you consider others here at VCE as maybe more Important than yourself?
And pray for one another? You say, I do. But many commentators say that intercessory prayer, and that's prayer for others, is the hardest work a Christian has to do. Now, they must be saying that for some reason, but they're saying it. And I want you to hear that opinion. It's the hardest work for any Christian to do, to pray fervently and for God's will for another person and then finally love one another.
We're talking God's love. We're talking supernatural love. We're talking about love that comes down shed abroad by God through the Holy Spirit to us. And we have two choices. We can hoard it or we can get rid of it and share it with others. If you wanted to capsuleize the one another's, they all fall under this one another, love one another. And you know what Jesus says about loving one another? It proves something. You know what it proves? It proves that you are Jesus's disciples.
Don't you want that to be true?
So some of you may be thinking, you know what?
I don't have the gift of service. I don't have the gift of mercy. I don't have the gift of teaching. I don't have the gift of this or that. And so therefore there's some sort of exempt or lesser accountability. But I want you to know that each of these is relaying a function, not so much a spiritual gift. It doesn't say if you have the spiritual gift of service, serve. It just says serve. So don't hide behind whether you have a giftedness in something, you have a supernatural power to engage in these activities that has nothing to do necessarily with a spiritual gift, but everything with the issue of you being equipped as a saint to be fitted together properly.
Question for you. Are you receiving these one another's?
Are you expressing these one another's? How could you change to be more in conformity with this blueprint of God?
I ask you, just focus on one of them. No one's asking you to take a final exam on all these. Find one of these that says, never thought about that, not doing that. And allow God to use you and show that you're equipped to do the very thing that he's asked you to do as part of God's blueprint, just pick one.
God has a blueprint for the Christian local church, and it's for our blessing from God with these one another's. And also it's for which we are accountable to God and others. The third of my three points, Romans 1412 says, so then each one of us shall give an account of himself to God. We are accountable to God, and we are accountable to others.
It's a stewardship. When you think of stewardship, maybe you just think, well, it's my material possessions. It's this thing or that thing. It's a stewardship of relationships. God is concerned about you being a good steward of relationships. And that brings to mind there are many masters, aren't there, calling our name, asking us to be squeezed into their mold.
And I'm saying to you, there's only one true master. Jesus says, you can't have two masters, so you figure it out. If you're sensing conflict with regard to who is driving the ship, who is charting the course, surrender and say, God, show me idols, show me harmful ways in me. Get rid of these other masters so that I can only serve the true master with these one another's.
I observe in Scripture the local church was continually devoted.
Continually. That's a word that means what? Continually and devoted. What does that mean? Devoted means that it's not a casual or a brief enthusiasm. Today I'm devoted. Next day I'm just casually thinking about it. Next day I'm not thinking about it at all. Devoted is something that speaks of dedication, it speaks of loyalty, it speaks of faithfulness. It speaks of giving yourself up for one's other person's needs and your own resources.
Scripture in Acts and Romans twelve talks about that. Acts two says, and they were continually devoting themselves to four things. The apostles teaching to fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Now, I know you engage in those things. You go to a local church, you can't help escape that. But are you devoted to them? Will you be devoted to Pastor Craig's teaching from week to week? How will anyone know that? Will you be committed to fellowship? Whether it means more intentional community or whatnot? How about this breaking of bread? Now, see, I'm Italian, and I go immediately to this one breaking of bread. And I just want you to know it could refer to one of two things, depending on which commentator you read. Some say it's the Lord's Supper, and, you know, Jesus broke bread, and so that certainly makes sense. No one could refute that. But second of all, I do believe some of the commentators say that it lends itself to an idea about just getting together communally to eat.
Joe Robito, Sherry's grandfather, Italian as they come we'd sit around the table, and we'd eat and eat and eat. And he always said the same thing. He never said anything different. He says, this is what heaven is like, people just sitting around a table, eating and enjoying each other's fellowship. And I'm thinking, he's on to something. And so I say to myself, well, what does that look like at VCE in addition to communion? Well, I'm mindful. There are men's breakfasts, you men. There are men's breakfasts, you women. There are women's brunches and breakfasts and activities where the Bible is studied. So if you're not involved, know that you have opportunities to break bread in addition to communion.
Note this biblical exhortation.
The local church assembled and spurred each Other on to love and good deeds.
Hebrews 1024 and 25 says, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Stimulate is a word that actually means you're doing something to affect a response. You're just not letting something organically happen or just unintentionally happening. You're doing something to stimulate the other people in this room. Not forsaking our own assembling as the habit of some, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near. What's that day drawing near? Again, it is Christ's return. There's a sense of urgency here. This is not something you can just say, oh, I'll just put that on my calendar for the next year. There is a sense of urgency of us applying Hebrews 1024 to 25 May. We spur that gives you the picture of someone riding a horse. You want that horse to get up and go hit the spurs to the side of the horse.
Did you know that VCE holds commitment and accountability in high measure? It's in its culture and its core values. This next slide shares the commitment and accountability that I would wish that we would have a better understanding and awareness of. With regard to VCE, there are five. First of all, we're held to be committed to being under the appropriate authority of biblically based and gospel preaching. Local church. Second, we are called to be committed to the future of VCE and its purpose and its people. Three, we're called to be committed to VCE being our church family.
Think about that. Not just a group of people, a family. Four, we're called to attend, engage, serve and give. And finally, we're called to partner with the leadership of VCE.
Am I so committed? I have to ask myself that. How can I just preach that and not ask, are you so committed to those five values and are willing to be held accountable?
What's the big idea again? God has a blueprint for the Christian Local Church. It's for our blessings from God and with one another's, and for which we are held accountable to God and others.
Do you ever wonder how other local churches are doing from time to time? I wonder, and I've observed among talking to some people that there's some sort of sense of church consumerism that plagues itself sometime. It's as if you're shopping, shopping for a particular article of clothing or another piece of merchandise. And someone I hear say, you know, I tried that church. It's just not working for me. And this consumerism smacks of something that is so antithical to God's blueprint. Now, I know we're not supposed to compare VCE to other churches, but I know we're supposed to compare VCE to God's blueprint.
Sherry and I are involved with many missionaries around the world. And it's interesting that yesterday I received a letter from a pastor of a church in Toronto, Canada, and I guess he wanted to give a report to people that were interested in the ministry. And so what he did was he shared seven testimonies from people attending his local church. Now, I don't believe someone who is preparing a sermon is ever without refining it. And isn't it interesting that I got a letter during the last two days from someone who's just sharing seven testimonies about his church? People listen to these seven things. Listen to them. Please take the time to listen to them and hear God's blueprint.
Number one, first person says, I've found lifelong friendships and a place of belonging. I was mentored, inspired, and challenged to grow in ways I just couldn't on my own. I was met with a deeper revelation of my need for Jesus, and he has been faithful to transform my heart. I'm more joyful, more mature, more refined than I ever was before.
Number two, I am encouraged to live the life in the Spirit transformed my life, to break away from patterns of idolatry and sin, to embrace the life rooted in love and generosity that will permeate how now I work, forgive, and bless others.
Three, the church has opened my mind and eyes to recognize the old pattern of thinking in my life and my heart and my work and my relationships, and put on a renewed mind of Christ that encourages true Christlikeness in my every way.
Four, this church is a space where idols were smashed and love abounded. It showed me a whole new level of discipleship and brought me back to complete surrender to God. Five, while facing my anxieties and my pain, I experienced true compassion and tenderness in a real relationship with people that love me.
Six, the church has arguably been the most transformative experience of my spiritual life, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what God is going to do next.
I am now more in conformity with the teachings and the authority and the activities of what God wants for me.
And seven, this church is life changing for me.
Wouldn't you want to give that testimony to someone who asked you about village church east?
I love how God prepares me and equips me when I'm supposed to preach. It never fails. Something always comes up at the last minute, which enhances what I want to see about our church. I got here at 930. And what did I encounter at 930? I encountered people in the kitchen. I encountered people that were playing around with equipment. I encountered people that were here on the stage preparing for music and worship. I even countered three little kids, Chris and Megan's beautiful three little kids who were doing something, serving you this particular church. I marvel at that.
And then this morning, I picked up my daily devotional calendar. Each day, there's a word from God. And what this word say to me? It was from a Psalm 116, verse 14. Get this. I'm reading this this morning as I'm brushing my teeth.
God, I will, and I'll do it together with his people. Oh, may it be so.
Amen.
