Starting Points Part 1 series by Bill D. Kruger 8/19/2012

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1 Starting Points Part 1 GIV@GTA series by Bill D. Kruger 8/19/2012 When I sit down with Deshi to do a puzzle I always look for side and corner pieces - Of course that is so we can build a framework in which the rest of the picture can fit and form what the original designer intended. Deshi s four year-old thinking is, Daddy I want to work on the inside - tiger, flower, animal, etc. The tiger gets finished but the rest of the pic takes forever - because we don t have a framework. What is the framework for our church to develop a God Inspired GT? Where do we start? Let me ask you a question first. What are you looking for in a church? Or what is the ideal church to you? Perhaps you say that it s the music - trained musicians - unplugged musicians - hymnals - projected songs - choir - worship team - popular radio songs - obscure unknown music - drums - no drums! Maybe it s all about the preaching. Sermons have to be good, strong but not too preachy, biblical but still practical, hell and fire, conversational teaching. Of course the preacher always plays into what the sermons are like - scholar, funny guy, counselor, etc. Maybe it s all about the people to you. People who are in the same stage of life as you are; those whom you identify with as peers - same age, same interests, same clothes, same cars, same hair, urban background, country attitude, suburban flair - Or maybe you don t care about all that - what is really important to you is whether or not there are opportunities to serve - or is the church big on evangelism and missions or does the church have youth and children s ministry that keeps the kids happy. I know some would insist on a church that is spirit-filled and full of people willing and waiting to hear the voice of the Spirit of God. You re tired of dead churches filled with dead traditions of men. You want newness and freshness! Or maybe you are looking for a church that makes you feel a certain way. You may have never said it that way, but you would be in the same boat as the majority of people looking for a church today. A lot of these things can be good or at least neutral - I really want you to consider what you actually value most in a church. What are you looking

2 for GT to become? What should our church be? What should we make effort to become? Before I spend any time helping us decide that I need you to consider why I ask you that question in the first place. You are not the pastor - you are not all on a church board. You may not consider yourself a leader at GT in any official or unofficial capacity. Why am I asking you your opinion? Am I going to put all of these opinions in a hat, mix them up and then customize our church into a democratic collection of decisions and directions? Consider who the authors of the N.T. address in their narratives and letters. Galatians 1:6 (ESV) 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel who is you? 1 Corinthians 5:1-2 (ESV) 1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you - who deals with the immoral brother? So consider who is responsible the future direction of this church? I pray that I as pastor and the official board of this church will follow the scriptures examples and instructions and yes, we are responsible as Heb. 13:17 (ESV) tells us: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. But every single believer in this place today is ultimately responsible for the present condition and the future success of this church. We are all responsible and will give account for whether or not we are faithful to gather together, whether or not we spur each other on to good works and whether or not we have fought to maintain a right teaching regarding the gospel of Christ before this world. Look at Hebrews 10:23-25 (ESV) 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.

3 We must first own up to our corporate responsibility to own the future of of this church. Is this your church home? Is this the place where you have purposed in your heart to submit to the vision that God births here? PRAY. The starting point for any discussion about what God desires for us and His church is always in one direction. We first, of necessity, must look at Jesus Christ - who He is and how he works in us as His people. We looking at the gospel written by John, chapter 1. John 1:1-18 (ESV) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made Christ is an eternal Word. The starting point of our life on earth is Christ, the starting point for our life in eternity is Christ. John says He was God, He is God, He was with God in the beginning. John is confirming to our minds and our hearts the central significance of Jesus the Christ. 2. Christ is a sustaining Word. The starting point for existence is trusting in Christ. Since all things were made for him and through him and Paul tells us in Col. 1:17 (ESV) 17...in him all things hold together.as Hebrews tells us - Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) 3...and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. Our atoms are contained and maintained in life by Him. He will re-arrange that universal matter when he makes my physical body anew. Christ illustrated the first-fruits of resurrection by rising again - as C.S.Lewis put it, death worked backward. 3. Christ is the final living Word. John 1:14-17 (ESV) 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me. ) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. We call that incarnation. Much as our words reveal to others our hearts and minds, so Jesus Christ is God's "Living Word" to reveal His heart and mind to us. John 14:9 (ESV) 9...Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. A word is composed of letters, and Jesus Christ is "Alpha

4 and Omega" (Rev. 1:11), the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet According to Hebrews 1:1-3, Jesus Christ is God's last and final Word to mankind, for He is the climax of God s complete revelation to mankind. The Spirit of God tells us through Peter s 2nd letter that the end of all things is at hand. In other words all that God intended to tell us He told us in a final burst of His glory embodied in Jesus Christ. He was not a phantom or a spirit when He ministered on earth, nor was His body a mere illusion. John and the other disciples each had a personal experience that convinced them of the reality of the body of Jesus (1 John 1:1-2). He took on Himself sinless human nature and identified with us in every aspect of life from birth to death. "The Word" was not an abstract concept of philosophy, but a real Person who could be seen, touched, and heard. Christianity is Christ, and Christ is God. The revelation of God's glory is the primary theme of scripture. Jesus revealed God's glory to us in His person, His works, and His words. The glory of the Old Covenant of Law was shadow of God s glory, but the glory of the New Covenant in Christ personifies an increasing glory (see 2 Cor. 3). The Law could reveal sin, but it could never remove sin. Jesus Christ came with fullness. He was the full expression of God to man. As full an expression as we could handle and as much as we needed. And what characterized and expressed that fullness to us? John declares that Jesus Christ came to full of grace and truth. That fullness in Christ is what fills the cry of our hearts for more and more of the grace of God - grace upon grace. A church full of Jesus will be full of what Christ is full of. What is that? Grace and Truth. Ephesians 1:22-23 (ESV) 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Colossians 2:9-10 (ESV) 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. The grace of God wrapped around the truth of God is the balance beam of an effective Christian. Grace and truth are also the critical components in the life of a healthy, fruitful church congregation. To the extent that we understand the grace of God and the truth that proceeds from God

5 in our knowledge of Christ - to that extent - we will BE a church fruitful in the ways of God. So the frame for our puzzle is actually the grace and truth found in Jesus Christ. Not just graciousness toward others or a knowledge of Bible facts - but a recognition of our desperate need for the grace that Jesus Christ provided as WE stand together before God s throne seeking His favor - and a recognition of our bent to suppress the truth in unrighteousness which plagues us at every turn. John tells us, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The law was right and righteous but it had no power to transform us - only to expose our deep need for God s help. It was necessary, but not sufficient to meet our need. Jesus brought us what no law, no list of rules no matter how righteous could bring us. Colossians 1:6 says All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God s grace in all its truth. The gospel is characterized by grace and truth. But grace and truth are not just part of a religious rule system. They are both embodied in Jesus Christ. They don t work outside of Him because true grace can only come from God and truth is defined by His perfect character. Jesus is the fullness of God therefore, we can only know grace and truth thru Him. John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory - The word translated made his dwelling is the word for tabernacled. Christ tabernacled among us, picturing him as the dwelling place of God on earth. God s glory no longer dwelt in a building, the temple, but in Christ. He WAS the holy of holies. But when he ascended he deposited that glory of God in us we became His living temples, the holy of holies, both corporately as churches (Eph. 2:22 (ESV) 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.) and individually as Christians (1 Cor. 6:19 (ESV) 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.). God s essence, his shekinah glory, was visibly manifested in two things: grace and truth. To be Christ-like is to be full of what he was full of: grace and truth. Is the world seeing Christ in us? If we are vessels of his glory, we have a very short biblical checklist of what we should be full of: grace

6 and truth. When all of our truth is Christ and all of the grace we stand in is in Christ - the framework for a God Inspired Vision at Glad Tidings is in place. The world today is desperately hungry for two things truth and grace. It is not enough for us to offer them one if we are to be true Christians, we must offer them both. Today you can make a case that the church is simultaneously too hostile to the world and too friendly to it. Sinners wanted to be around Jesus, but today they don t want to be around the followers of Jesus. Why? On the other hand, when the church tries to make itself a place where sinners are comfortable, the distinctives of Christianity are sacrificed. The church becomes one more social club that helps people feel good but fails to help them be good. Why? Because in the one case Christians emphasize truth but neglect grace. In the other case they emphasize grace but neglect truth. Some churches are strong on truth but weak on grace. Some are strong on grace but weak on truth. Truth is not complete without grace and grace is not complete without truth. Grace without truth deceives people. Truth without grace crushes people. As we pursue God s vision for us as a church, let s decide here and now to be full of what Jesus Christ is full of -- the grace of God in all of its truth. Let us pray for soft hearts to receive His truth and dependent hearts recognizing and practicing His amazing grace.