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Sep 15, 2024

What is the Big Deal about Being Committed to The Church?

What is the Big Deal about Being Committed to The Church?

Passage: Matthew 16:13-18

Speaker: Matt Petty

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: sunday morning, prayer, god, sermon, membership, bible, christ, gospel, commitment, spiritual growth, bible study, church unity, active faith, bible teaching, christian motivation, faith communities, attending church, church livestream, burnt hickory, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, transformative faith, belonging to the church, is church membership biblical

Attending versus membership: why should someone become a member of the church? What does it truly offer? Today’s sermon will show the significance of standing behind and belonging to a church community. God invites us not just to attend but to engage and grow within His family fully. As we explore the teachings of Jesus in the book of Matthew, we’ll see His passion for the church and understand why being an active part of a local church is essential for our spiritual well-being. The church is not just a building; it's a called-out body of believers. Join us as we look at scripture and the heart of the church and learn how to deeply root ourselves in a community that embodies God's love and calling for each of us.

Well, once again, good morning! We are so glad you're with us today as well as you're with us on one of my favorite Sundays of the year. It is membership day. It is tailgate Sunday. I mean, think about it: When else can you eat your way around the whole front yard of the church for free? It is going to be a great afternoon. And even if you don't have a group, stay around. We'd love to connect you with a group.

If you've been here over the last month or so, you know that we are currently in a series where we're tracking through the book of James together, in a series called Faith in Action. And don't worry, next week we're gonna be back in James.

But today I wanted to pause for a minute and talk about church. To talk about the why behind church, to ask what is church, and what do we even do this thing called church for? I will get really specific today and ask what church is and what my response should be to it. I also want to look at the possibility that many of us probably need to rethink what our commitment looks like to it. So if you've got a copy of scripture today, we're going to start in Matthew chapter 16.

You know, for those of you who do presentations, or speak as part of your job, one of the things that comes to mind when you're prepping is to ask who you're speaking to, right? That is one of the key elements of communicating. So every time I stand up here, my mind goes to all of you. I think of people in different places, in different spots on their faith journey. Anytime I'm speaking or teaching, I'm always asking, who am I speaking to? Well, this week I thought a lot about the different groups of people in the room.

When I'm thinking through the idea of the church and my response to church, it hits me really, really heavy that there are a lot of different views. There are a lot of different feelings, and we are all at different places on the continuum of our commitment to the church. For some of you today, when I talk about church today is a joyous day for you. Maybe you're kind of like me: you grew up in church. Was anybody in here, almost born in church? That was pretty much me, you don’t even go home from the hospital. I think we went straight to the nursery. It was just how things looked in my life. For some of you, today’s message is a good reminder for you.

But I realize there are many of you guys that you're new to this deal. Over the last year, we've had so many new families, which is why we do days like this. Some of you are new to church; you're just figuring this thing out and you're really not even sure a lot of the lingo and a lot of what we do. Well, today is for you.

For some of you, I'm just going to be honest and point out the elephant in the room. You were burned by the church at some point in your life. Whether it was a person or a church, there was a wound there. Today's going to be a little bit different for you.

There's another group here who are pretty skeptical when it comes to church. In fact, maybe you grew up in a household that taught you to go to church because that's culturally what you do. But on the other side, maybe you were taught to keep it at arm's length or keep it on the peripheral.

And there's a whole other group of you here that maybe you're indifferent to the whole thing. You come because when Mama's happy, everybody's happy. You come because you know it keeps the peace in the family.

You see what I mean when I say there's a whole lot of backgrounds in the room when it comes to church. You add all of those with the fact that at some point consumerism crept into church culture. It told us that church is all about me and my desires and my wants with this low accountability and no responsibility.

And the reality is, if you combine all of that together, many people have written this thing called church off because of all of this junk that we just walked through. Which leads to a lack of commitment, a lack of accountability, and a lack of understanding what God's design is for the church.

Well, this morning I just wanna lay out God's design. I wanna make an all-call for us to plant and flourish as part of the body of Christ. God's heart's desire is not for you simply to attend church; it is for you to belong and be the church. At a surface level, this means church is not a spectator sport. Because really you don't just come to church. What you're gonna see in just a minute is you are the church. The first mention from Jesus about church really drives this home. In the New Testament in Matthew chapter 16, we find this extremely familiar passage of scripture where Jesus describes the church.

It's Jesus’s first mention of the word church. Matthew 16:13 says this, "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked the disciples - Who do people say that the son of man is?" Verse 14, "They replied - Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered - You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied - Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood," In other words, nobody taught you this. This was given to you., "but by my Father in heaven."

Here's where it ties together. "And I tell you that you," Jesus says, "you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." So does Jesus look at this rock on the other side of the river in Caesarea Philippi and say, "Hey, you see that little rock over there? I'm gonna build my whole church on this rock." No, that's not what Jesus is saying. Is he looking at Peter saying, Peter, on you alone I am going to build this church? No. Even though through the years people have tried to make that argument. What Jesus is saying right here is, "Hey, Peter, on this proclamation, on this stance, and on this belief that I Jesus am the Messiah, and the King of Kings, I will build my church, and my church will always last. And my church will be the recognition of my presence in this world."

Jesus looks at Peter and he describes the church. The word church in Greek is the word "Ekklesia". Ekklesia is a compound word. For those of you who don't know the language, compound just means there are two words slammed together to make one. The first is the word "ek," which literally means "out of". And "kaleo." if you conjugate ekklesia, "klesia" down - it literally means "to call."

We have “out of” and "to call." Remember Spanish class again, where all the words were always in the opposite order? Flip them around, and literally "ekklesia" or "church," does not mean the white building up on the hill on Main Street. It does not mean the place that we stop by on Sunday. It literally means by definition of Jesus, "The called-out body."

Follow the logic here. I get to gather here now in a place called Burnt Hickory, and Jesus is saying it's less about a location and more about a gathered group of called-out people under the name and under the confession and under the banner of Jesus the Messiah. That's church. That's why some of us had missed this idea of church because our understanding of church has just meant a location and not the fact that I am part of the called-out body. And we see this all over the New Testament. 

Let me give you a couple of descriptions of church by the Apostle Paul. In First Corinthians chapter one, verse one. It's in the introduction but don’t skip through to get to the good stuff. Listen to how Paul describes the church.

He says, "Paul, called them to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church." Now listen to this, "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be his holy people together with all the people everywhere who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to their Lord and ours; grace and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, most of the time, when we start a new book, we just blast right through that. But Paul just described the church.

He said the church is a gathered group. This group was in Corinth. They were gathered together. They were being sanctified together. That's just a big way of saying that they were growing closer and closer to Jesus. They were the ekklesia, the called-out body. They knew that they were different. Not only were they part of this small little "c" church in Corinth, but Paul rounds it out by saying that they were also part of the global big "C" church across the world. Paul says this is a group — now, this is our model — of assembled accountable people that have this common confession, this common goal, and his name is Jesus.

 Maybe you say you don't like the Church of Corinth. So, let's look at the Church of Thessalonica. First Thessalonians 1:1 says, "Paul, Silas, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians, in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers." He's like, "Hey, I know you and I'm praying for you and I'm lifting you up." Because that's what the called-out body does together. Paul says, "We remember before our God and the Father, your work produced by faith. Your labor prompted by love, your endurance, inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

Do you see the description of the church? It wasn't, where is that Thessalonica church? It's down there on Main Street. No, Paul says, this is a group, working together. They're faithful, called-out, people of God, present, loving, enduring, serving together, full of hope.

Let’s see what Luke through the book of Acts. You can't read the book of Acts and not be amazed by what God did in creating the church. It shows that the church is a group of people who are called out, people living under a banner to reach the world. We're all small rocks building on the big rock, that Jesus is the Messiah king.

Why am I so passionate about that? Here's where it gets personal. Because in seeing these things in scripture, when you read the New Testament you begin to see that there is an assumption in scripture that all believers belong in a regular assembly and work as a local body of Christ. All believers. You can't read scripture without seeing that.

This leads to our second principle. There is no such thing in the New Testament as a believer who exists in a random or independent lifestyle that is not fully active in a local body of Christ. You cannot find it in the New Testament anywhere. Because by definition, the church is the called-out body. And because all believers in the first century, as the church was being established and as scripture was written, were called out into local groups of people. This by the way is the reason that we don't read anything in scripture that says something like "Thou shalt be part of a local church.” There was a reality that you don't have to make a rule or proclaim an edict when everyone just generally understood that to be a believer was to be in church.

Nobody has to tell you to breathe. You just do it. No edict in the Bible says you should breathe. That's what the Bible presents church as. Think about it: the New Testament was written to the church. Revelation chapters two and three were written to the group of churches in Asia. Because that's where the believers were. If you look at the letters of the New Testament, they were all written to either churches specifically, or leaders of churches that were going to circulate them throughout the churches. Because that's where the believers were. And because church mattered, listen to what Paul said to the church elders and leaders in Acts 20:28. "Hey, keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." He says, "Be shepherds of the church of God, which he," this is Jesus, "bought with his own blood." God called out shepherds and pastors to watch over the church. The church was so important to Jesus that Jesus bought it with his blood. And the church is going to exist forever because it has been set up on top of the rock and the blood of who Jesus is.

There's no other group on this planet that can claim that Jesus's blood died for it. Do you realize the only organization that is gonna make it to eternity and the only organization that Christ emphatically said that he died for is his bride, the church?

And here is what the Bible teaches us about church. Number one, the Bible teaches us that God speaks to the church. We just said the New Testament was written to the church. Number two, God speaks through the church. He speaks through gifted and called pastors and leaders and Life Group leaders and children's ministry leaders and people that have groups together that divide the word, that discuss the word, that walk through the word together, that teach the word together, that lead worship moments together. Here’s the tension you may bring up: They didn't have blogs to read or Christian radio to listen to. I mean, we live in a different digital age. Can I not go out and get my personal word from God now? To which I would say yes you can. But I would caveat that if that's your idea of being fed spiritually, you will never walk yourself into the full counsel of God. You will always skip the topics and skip the ideas that get up all in your crawl or that you don’t like. And you will not receive the full counsel of God, number one. But number two, you don't even know the theology that you're getting and the consistency of teaching they're getting. That's what the church was established to have. You will always skip to what you want to hear. And the church is not just about hearing God's word; it's about belonging somewhere.

 So follow the logic. God speaks to the church. God speaks through the church. And here's number three: The church is the hope of the world. I love all the parachurch organizations. I love all of the podcasts. I love all of the individuals out there. But it is the church that was established to be the hope of the world and that has been called to be the light in the darkness. When we as the called-out saved body of Christ gather, the goal is that we would be poured into. Then as a result of being the called-out body, we disperse from this place with a hope in our heart, a march in our step, and a vision in our eyes.

Then we go impact the world to help the body of Christ reach the great commission. That is the goal of the design of how God has laid out church. You've got to belong and be planted somewhere. You can't invite somebody to something you're not a part of. You see, culture looks at us and says, "Just go to church. Just be fed. Just be entertained. Be ministered to." Just check that box and say, "You did it." But that's not what Jesus says. Just as you don't see an independent, non-connected, nonbelonging individual that is a believer in the New Testament, that is not following after the called-out body.

There's also a sense in the New Testament that people are known. This goes against a group of people today whose sole goal on Sunday mornings is to slip in and slip out and never have to invest in anyone. It is my life mission to greet you every single morning. Many think that as long as I come and attend, I am fulfilling my responsibility to the church, even if nobody knows me.

That's not belonging. Belonging means that you are a part of something. In fact, in the New Testament, you couldn’t sneak out of the church. Look at Acts chapter two; Peter's preaching at Pentecost. It says, "Those who accepted his message were baptized. About 3000 of them were added to their number that day." Not only were they baptized, but they gathered together. They became part of the ekklesia, the called-out body of Christ. They belonged. They were active.

We see it again when the disciples are healing. In Acts 5:14, it says, "Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and they were added to their number." What does that mean? They knew who the people were. They became part of the family. Somebody was counting. Somebody was making a list, and they knew who was there. I love Acts 11:24, after Stephen's death, when it says that "He was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a good number of people were added to the Lord." To be added to the Lord literally meant to be added to the church. To be added to the church literally meant to be added to the Lord.

It means that nobody was slipping in and out, hoping they weren't noticed. They were planting themselves. Here's the example that scares me to death out of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. The writer of Hebrews says, "Having confidence in your leaders." It's talking about church leaders here. "And submit to their authority because they keep watch over you as those." Check this out, this keeps me up at night. "As those who must give account." Do you know why this keeps me up at night? Because there are literally people in this church whose whole life mission is to slip in and slip out and not be known. How in the world can people like me be held accountable one day for not meeting those people?

The point of all of this is that the church is for us. To be together, to belong, to be on mission together, to be called out, and to represent him in the world. I just don't see in scripture what culture is trying to tell us when it says, "Hey, just be at church when it's convenient. Just do it when you can. Just keep all your other options open." It doesn't work because you are the church. It's the point of scripture.

You know, this might get me in a little bit of trouble this week, but here's a piercing question that I asked myself. Could the church even exist if it were made up mostly of people with my level of belonging? Man, that pierced me this week. For some of you, man, you're getting it done. And I just want to encourage you by saying we know. We see you. We value you. And we know that you are working for the kingdom of God. You are belonging, you are planted, you are active, you are serving, you are ministering, you're being nurtured, you're being cared for, you're being discipled and you are making much of Jesus. But for others of you, this is way different than just slipping in and out or participating when it's convenient. Or saying I’ll come if our kids don't have a ball game. I lose sleep over this stuff. Not because I'm trying to build this kingdom of Burnt Hickory. But because the bride of Christ matters. Jesus's desire is for you to be actively involved with the body.

On the one hand, Jesus is actively wanting to gather you into the body. But on the other hand, Satan and his minions are actively trying to isolate you and put doubt in your mind whether it's really worth it. Let me speak to this by giving you five foundational truths that can help. Whether it's a critic in your life or whether it's Satan trying to divide you about the church. Let me remind you of a couple things.

Number one, it was Jesus who started the church. It wasn't some men sitting in the back room one day saying, "How can we ruin their Sunday mornings?" In fact, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Church is a God-made organization and it's the only one that's going to last.

Number two, Jesus loves the church. Is the church perfect? No. Does the church have issues through the ages? Absolutely. But Jesus loves the church. Ephesians 5:25, "Husbands love your wives just as Christ," here it is. "loved the church and he gave himself up for her." Jesus loved it so much that he died for the church. Don't take this the wrong way, but he didn't die for your sports team. He didn't die for your band, your PTA, or your company. Yes, he died for the people inside of it. But Jesus died for his bride — the church. If you wanna get on my bad side, you can say whatever you want to about me, but stay away from my bride. The same thing is true with Jesus. How in the world can I say that I love Jesus but don’t care about the church. That is insulting to God.

Number three, not actively belonging to a church is proof that something is wrong with you spiritually. I stand by this with Scripture. And quite frankly, you would have to get rid of most of the New Testament to say that the church does not matter. But I just want you to feel the power in this idea that we are the called-out body. And if you want to get rid of church, you have to get rid of Jesus. I get there are circumstances in people's lives. There are people with just absolutely terrible health. Some elderly people can't be involved like they want to. But I would just say for the rest of us out there, we should make it a point to be planted, to be committed, to be belonging to a local body of Christ. I love that the Apostle John reinforces the idea that there’s no such thing as individualized spirituality. He says in First John chapter two, "These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us. Otherwise, they would've stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong to us.” Scripture says we are built together in interlocking dependency. Every Christian should belong to a church.

Number four, the church is not just a place to attend, it's a place to participate and belong. At some point in history, we moved from really understanding that the church was this central figure in our life, to the idea that I can be a connoisseur of church activities. To which I would just say this: that is not what God intended for your life. He didn't intend for you to do this activity over here and this activity over here and this activity over here. Because that's not belonging, it's just receiving. Plant and belong so that we can make a difference together. This is a family. And this is where accountability happens, where we develop and use our gifts and have a constant level of theology in a singular word: we are the church. And I get it, we're flawed. And I am the chief flaw. Every family is dysfunctional. But Jesus says the church will make it.

Number five, not only is the church important for you, but it holds the power to impact the world and the generations to come. Parents listen to me real quick. Your kids are taking your cue on how they are going to view church for the rest of their lives. And if you treat it flippantly, it will be absent in their life. I'll make you that promise, barring a massive movement of God in their life.

The church is for every believer and every believer is for the church. We need you. What's our response to this? Plant yourselves in the local church and actively belong. I don't know how else to say it. God's calling on our life is not to just go to church. God's calling on our life is to be the church to belong and to flourish and to make a difference as the called out body. This is why I'm so passionate about the church. The church is what is going to fulfill the great commission of Jesus together. Will you plant? And will you flourish?

Let me close with this verse from King David out of Psalms 92, verse 12: "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon." We don't use this language a lot of flourishing, but I love this mental image. It’s the idea of growth, vitality, and health. A palm in the Bible is this symbol of victory. Cedar in the Bible is this idea of an evergreen that is always growing. "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like the cedar of Lebanon." Verse 13, "Planted in the house of the Lord. They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still," Man, I love this right here. "They will still bear fruit in old age." Can I get an amen to that one? "They will stay fresh and green proclaiming, the Lord is upright. He is my rock." There's that word rock again. "And there is no wickedness in him."

For many of us, that's not the language we would use for our life. The language we would use for our life is more like withering, busy, alone, relationally struggling, and barely making it. Does it say those that are planted will never have a hard day? No. Does it say that we're never gonna have a difficulty? No. But it says we will flourish. Why? Because we have a body that is behind us. I would not be where I am today without the local body of Christ picking me up, rebuking me when I needed it, pouring into Melissa and me, encouraging us, feeding us, taking care of us, looking at us in the eyes saying that we can make it. But listen, that's not what happens when we're casually a part of something, slipping in, not being committed, and not walking together as the ekklesia. That's how we flourish. Church is not a destination. It's a body that we're all called to walk out together. So here's the plea: Will you plant, and will you belong?

Follow Along with the Message

What Is the Big Deal About Being Committed to the Church?

 September 15, 2024

PRINCIPLE: God’s heart desire is not for you to just attend church; it’s for you to to and to the church.

Matthew 16:13–18
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
1 Corinthians 1:1–3
1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:1
Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

PRINCIPLE: There is no such thing in the New Testament as a believer that exists in some sort of random, independent, and free-floating lifestyle that is not fully in a local church.

Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
The Bible Teaches Us

1. God to the Church.

2. God speaks the Church.

3. The Church is the of the world.

Acts 2:41
Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 5:14
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
Acts 11:24
He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were added to the Lord.
Hebrews 13:17
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.

QUESTION: Would I want to be a part of a church if it was made up mostly of people with my level of ?

5 Foundational Truths

1. Jesus the Church.

Matthew 16:18
…I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

2. Jesus the Church.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

3. Not actively belonging to a church is that something is wrong with you spiritually.

1 John 2:19 (NLT)
These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.

4. Church is not just a place to ; it’s a place to participate and belong.

5. Not only is church important for you, it holds the power to impact the world and to come.

What is my response to all of this?

myself in the local church and actively .

Psalm 92:12–15
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.
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