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Life-Changing Community
- 1. CORE VALUE We fight for life-changing community.
- 2. EPHESIANS
- 4. And you [ ]were dead [b]in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the [c]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, [d]indulging the desires of the flesh and of the [e]mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. EPHESIANS 2:1-10 (NASB)
- 5. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead [f]in our transgressions, made us alive together [g]with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. EPHESIANS 2:1-10 (NASB)
- 6. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. EPHESIANS 2:1-10 (NASB)
- 8. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith— that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, EPHESIANS 3:14-21 (NASB)
- 9. and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. EPHESIANS 3:14-21 (NASB)
- 10. Then, he says “therefore.” 1. Be rooted and grounded in love. 2. Know the immense love of God in a way that surpasses knowledge. 3. Be filled with the fullness of God. So, Paul Prays that these Christians will:
- 11. Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one anotherin love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in onehope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. EPHESIANS 4:1-12 (NASB)
- 12. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says,“When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascendedfar above all the heavens, so that He mightfill all things. EPHESIANS 4:1-12 (NASB)
- 13. And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to amature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. EPHESIANS 4:1-12 (NASB)
- 16. Unity doesn’t just COME from growth. Unity CAUSES growth.
- 17. Sometimes we get unity wrong.
- 18. TRUE UNITY ISN’T WEIRD Cult-like, “you can’t just leave” attitude. SOFT Avoidance of difficult topics. SUPPRESIVE Sweeping things under the rug. COMPLIANT “Can’t we all just get along.”
- 19. TRUE CHRIST-CENTERED UNITY IS: When our gifts aren’t for ourselves and our differences don’t really matter because Jesus is TRULY the most important thing.
- 20. UNITY is not to be confused with UNIFORMITY.
- 21. TOO OFTEN, WE REPLACE UNITY WITH UNIFORMITY Socially Theologically Spiritual Gifts Politically
- 22. UNIFORMITY is US-centered. UNITY is CHRIST-centered.
- 23. Blue GUY Liberal Follows Jesus Pacifist Vegan RED GUY Conservative Follows Jesus Veteran Hunter
- 24. TurningoverthetablesofcorporateAmerica. Taxcollectors-thievesthen,thievesnow! Jesus,theconscientiousobjector. It’snotagunproblem,it’sasinproblem. Willweallbegonein20years? Willweallbegonein20years? WhatJesusACTUALLYsaidaboutrichpeople. Blue Group Red Group That’sNOTwhathesaid.That’soutofcontext. Danielwasavegan.Alsomeatismurder. AndtheLordsaid,“Arise,Peter.Killandeat.” TOPICS TOPICS
- 25. When we fight for UNIFORMITY, we fight to stay the same. When we fight for UNITY, we fight to grow.
- 26. Blue GUY Liberal Follows Jesus Pacifist Vegan RED GUY Conservative Follows Jesus Veteran Hunter
- 27. Blue GUY Liberal Follows Jesus Pacifist Vegan RED GUY Conservative Follows Jesus Veteran Hunter
- 28. Blue GUY Liberal Follows Jesus Pacifist Vegan RED GUY Conservative Follows Jesus Veteran Hunter
- 29. Blue GUY Liberal Follows Jesus Pacifist Vegan RED GUY Conservative Follows Jesus Veteran Hunter
- 30. Fighting for unity makes us grow because the only way to achieve true unity is to become more like Jesus.
- 31. This might challenge your perception of spiritual growth, depth, and maturity.
- 32. We Need to Rethink: How we grow. How we measure growth. Who can help us grow.
- 33. We fight for life-changing community. It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it.
- 34. The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community. — Bonhoeffer
- 35. Communion
Editor's Notes
- Last week, Jonathan Reynolds came and spoke about Radical community. Today, I’m going to piggyback off that by talking about our core value. We fight for life-changing community. Now, we had to make that short enough that people could memorize it, but I’m going to take a few minutes to expound on what we’re talking about. Community is just a group of people that have something in common. People have a nearly universal need and desire for community. People crave that common ground around which they can build a relational support system. It could be sports, video games, career, anything. Our common ground is LIFE-CHANGE. When we talk about life-change in our church context- we’re talking about what we learn about God taking root in our hearts in such a way that we look different. As Rev. Reynolds talked about last Sunday- in a way that doesn’t just get us to church on Sunday, but it changes our Mondays. Life-change is becoming more like Jesus in our thoughts, actions, and priorities. The role of the local church is to be a community that fosters this kind of life-change. We want to be a church where people are becoming more like Jesus.
- Today, we’re going to be in Ephesians. Specifically, Ephesians chapter 4. But first I want to talk a little bit about what precedes it in the book, because chapter 4 really builds on that. So, Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus, and he’s writing this really beautiful, theologically rich letter about transforming, life-changing power of the gospel. Then, in chapter 4, where we begin today, he shifts gears and begins giving instructions regarding how Christians should live in community. For some additional context, we’re going to watch a quick video that sums up chapters 1-3 of Ephesians, and also read a couple key passages.
- I’m going to read a passage that is just too good to let it be summed up by a video.
- So, again, we’re starting where Paul is switching from doctrine-all that stuff we just talked about- to duty- how we’re supposed to live in light of what Jesus did for us. So, here we go. Ephesians 4:1-16
- So, this is a second key passage, and this one leads right into the text that we’ll be talking about today. So, after painting a beautiful and clear picture of the gospel, Paul says this in Chapter 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
- and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
- So this is the moment where it switches from doctrine to duty. Paul prayers a prayer, and he’s basically saying, “I’m praying for you because I really want you guys to get this Christian thing right. I really want you to be rooted and grounded in love. I really want you to know God’s love with such depth that it surpasses all knowledge. I want you to and be filled with the fullness of the Spirit of God. And then he says, THEREFORE So, basically, what we’re reading next is saying IF YOU WANT THOSE THINGS, DO WHAT I SAY NEXT.
- Ephesians 4
- Unity doesn’t just COME from growth. Unity CAUSES growth. Paul isn’t saying “if you grow, then you’ll be able to be unified.” He’s saying, “If, despite all your differences, you are able to stay unified, because you keep Jesus as the most important thing, then you WILL grow. It’s not two separate ideas. They are linked. This is God’s design for discipleship. Unity with other believers through the common bond of Jesus, all believers using their gifts, leading to growth and maturity for the whole body of believers.
- Maybe you’re a little uneasy with this right now, and here’s why that might be: Maybe you hear the word UNITY, and you’re thinking of something that you have a negative connotation
- True unity isn’t. We aren’t a cult. We don’t think our church is the best church. There are a number of completely valid reasons to go to some church other than ours. The Church gets unity wrong when we use it to avoid difficult topics. Unity that is built on never talking about the stuff that actually causes tension isn’t real unity. I would venture a guess that everyone here disagrees with me about something. If we were to figure out what that thing was, it would cause some tension. The Church gets unity wrong when we use it to sweet things under the rug. This is a mistake that churches have so commonly made. Nothing should get swept under the rug in the name of unity. Pastors have been kept in position after extra-marital affairs in the name of unity. Women and even children have been victimized and subsequently told to remain quiet in the name of unity. That’s not real unity.
- If you’re a little skeptical of this idea that unity leads to growth. It’s not that everyone agrees about everything. That’s not UNITY. It’s when that stuff just matters less.
- UNITY is not to be confused with UNIFORMITY.
- We replace unity with uniformity: Spiritual gifts. John talked about this just a couple weeks ago. We don’t believe that it should be all the gifts at some churches, none at others. That’s not the design. Theologically This one’s funny, because people who agree on 99.9% of theology will celebrate their unity despite difference over the .1%. Politically Dude, we don’t like it when people who love Jesus like we do see politics differently than we do. It causes a lot of tension. Socially When someone finds really good relationships in a church, there’s always a temptation to keep things the way they are so that those relationships don’t have to change. Maybe you’re looking at that list and you’re like, uniformity doesn’t look so bad. Maybe it’s not SO bad, but I’ll tell you this- it’s not God’s design for the church, and it’s not God’s design for how we grow.
- UNITY causes us to grow because true unity is Christ-centered and uniformity is us centered. We tend to be really bad about unity because it’s really hard not to make it about us. That’s basically the story of humanity….we ALWAYS make it about us. But when we fight to stay unified despite our differences, we have to make it more about God and less about us, and THAT is how we grow.
- So let’s say, we have these two guys, and there both Christians. We agree that can both be Christians, right? Even if their fights on Facebook get super annoying? Let’s say that their other views are, to them, inseparable from their faith. In other words. They legitimately can’t see how someone could have the opposite view and be a Christian. So, they find a church of what they might call “like-minded Christians,” and they get into small groups in their respective churches.
- Now, I’m having fun here. Don’t get bent out of shape about this. Blue guy really wanted me to let you know that his circle has men and women and they all share and teach equally. He said if anything, the women do more of the teaching. I told him I’d pass that along. The red guy joined a men’s group of guys who saw the world pretty much as he did. Anyways, these two small groups start doing studies. So, both guy goes to their small groups. They learn some stuff. They’re not more able to articulate their positions than ever before.They become more and more convinced that their existing positions are correct. They have less understanding than ever for how someone could disagree and call themselves Christians. Is that growth? Is that life-change? Now, these are exaggerated for what I like to call “failed comedic effect.” I know that it doesn’t really look quite like that. But here’s the point.
- I think we all want uniformity sometimes. Maybe it looks different for you. Maybe your fight for uniformity is about something else. Maybe it’s about parenting choices- the health of your kids. The education of your kids. You CAN’T understand how someone would see those things differently than you do. Maybe it’s theology or spiritual gifts. Maybe it’s social. Maybe you REALLY want new people to come to our church and learn about Jesus’s love for them, but if you’re honest with yourself, you already have a picture in mind of what those people are supposed to look like. You like your friends, your church, and your life the way they are. As long as the new people don’t change any of that, then you’re good with it.
- They’re nice to each other, and even that is hard. They’re patient. They’re kind when they want to be rude. Then, Maybe in small group they realize that they have some of the same challenges and struggles. They realize that they both really want to be good dads who point their kids to Jesus, and they don’t always know how to do it. They begin to pray for each other, the begin to actually care about one another. They GROW, just a little bit.
- Then, maybe they begin using their gifts. Liberal dude is great in kids ministry. Conservative dude is great at leading worship. They’re genuinely thankful that the other one is using their gift.
- They continue to grow. Their identity is now solidly in Christ. They begin to understand that the different ways they view the world have helped them teach each other about Jesus, even if they still can’t understand how they have some of the views that they have. Then maybe, some big life events happens. Something sad, I don’t know. But the kind of event that makes the other stuff seem less significant than ever. These guys cry together, they pray for each other. They’re there for each other in times of need, like family.
- Notice, the other things didn’t change. The only way these two were every going to be in community was to become more like Jesus. Fighting for unity MAKES us grow.
- So we talked about UNITY. Now I want to talk about the growth part in more detail, for just a few minutes. We need to rethink spiritual depth and maturity.
- So we talked about UNITY. Now I want to talk about the growth part in more detail, for just a few minutes. We need to rethink spiritual depth and maturity.
- Rethinking Spiritual Depth & Maturity I bolded we because it’s not just about OUR growth. That passage we read only talks about the WHOLE Body. We generally get this with marriage and family. We sometimes forget it in the church setting. Can turn into a catch 22. Me-centered. How we measure growth. It’s not always immediately apparent. I want to go deeper!!! Sermon, Bible reading, circle’s not doing it. Serving is lame. Life Event happens. We have to rethink who can help us grow. It’s not always who or how we expect. You are SURROUNDED by the kinds of life experiences I just talked about. Story- Chantel
- So when we say this core value. We fight for life changing community. Life-change is the growth part. It’s becoming more like Jesus. Fighting for it is the UNITY part. Now, it’s always going to be a fight. There’s no graduation at the end of it. We think that fight is a good thing. The fight is where the growth comes from.
- READ QUOTE Instead of pursuing OUR idea of community, which is usually UNIFORMITY, let’s pursue community the way God designed it. The kind that is hard, messy, and makes us more like Jesus. RE-FRAME. UNITY LEADS TO GROWTH AS JOHN THE BAPTIST SAID- I must decrease, he must increase.