BELIEVE, Belong, Serve Part 2 Pastor Eddie Turner Sunday, October 11, 2015 Eph. 3:8-10(NLT) - Though I am the least deserving of all God s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. 10 God s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The Church is part of God s plan to save the world! The Church has been entrusted with the greatest story ever told, the Gospel of Christ. The Church has been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit so she can go and demonstrate to mankind the glory of God. The Church is a place to grow, to heal and to become. If the Church is doing what God intended it to do, it will be a messy place, full of people at all stages of spiritual development, from infancy to maturity. Eph. 3:8-9(NLT) - Though I am the least deserving of all God s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9 I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. Eph. 3:10(NLT) - 10 God s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ---------------------------------------------------- The Apostle Paul says God s intent is to use the Church as his vehicle to display his wisdom. ---------------------------------------------------- Eph.1:16-23(NLT) - 16 I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that
you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. If Christ s love is demonstrated to humanity today-it will be done through the church; if Christ s power is manifested to mankind today-it will be done through the Church; if Christ reveals His glory today- it will be done through the Church; because the Church is His body. Eph.3:10(NLT) - 10 God s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. When a Church is healthy acting like the body of Christ in the world, even the angels are impressed. A high level battle goes on around the church all the time; evil fighting against good, light overcoming darkness, love defeating hate and life replacing death. Your mission is what you do best every single day, and your vision is what the future will be like because you deliver on that mission every day. Matt. 28:19-20(NLT) - Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you
always, even to the end of the age. Our vision is to reach and teach as many people as possible about Jesus Christ. But our mission is what we as a church family can do every single day to make that vision a reality. - What is our mission as a Church Family at FWC? What can we do best every single day that will eventually lead us to reaching more and more people for Christ? What can I do as a part of Family Worship Center everyday, that will help bring that vision to pass? BELIEVE Biblically: Mark 9:14-24(NLT) - 14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. 15 When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him. 16 What is all this arguing about? Jesus asked. 17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won t let him talk. 18 And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn t do it. 19 Jesus said to them, You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me. 20 So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. 21 How long has this been happening? Jesus asked the boy s father. He replied, Since he was a little boy. 22 The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can. 23 What do you mean, If I can? Jesus asked. Anything is possible if a person believes. 24 The father instantly cried out, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief! - It does matter what you believe-what you believe determines life
and death! - What you believe about yourself determines your quality of life and your direction in life: ----- BELIEVE Biblically: 1). We believe Jesus is the Son of God: ----- Islam operates under an Anti-Christ Spirit! - 1John 4:1-3(NKJV)- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 2 John 7(NKJV)- For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. God referred to Jesus as his Son Matt. 3:16-17(NLT) - 16 after his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. John the Baptist testified that Jesus was the Son of God: John 1:32-34(NLT) - 32 Then John testified, I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. 33 I didn t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. 34 I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God. The disciples proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God: Matt. 16:13-18(NLT) - 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of
Man is? 14 Well, they replied, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. 15 Then he asked them, But who do you say I am? 16 Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. 17 Jesus replied, You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. 18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means rock ), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. -- Evil Spirits declared Jesus to be the Son of God: Luke 4:40-41(NLT) - As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, You are the Son of God! But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak. ---- Angels declared that Jesus was the Son of God: --- Luke 1:30-35(NLT) - 30 Don t be afraid, Mary, the angel told her, for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end! 34 Mary asked the angel, But how can this happen? I am a virgin. 35 The angel replied, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. -- Jesus consented that He was the Son of God: John 5:17-18(NLT) - 17 But Jesus replied, My Father is always working, and so am I. 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. --
Jesus is the only way to the Heavenly Father: --- John 14:6-10(NLT) - 6 Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him! 8 Philip said, Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied. 9 Jesus replied, Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. ---- All things are possible if you believe correctly! ---- 2). We BELIEVE the Bible is the inspired word of God: 2 Tim. 3:16-17(NLT) - 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. Sixty-six books by forty different writers, living at different places, in different cultures, spanning a period of sixteen hundred years, each writer unaware of contributing his essential part of the whole, each writer adding to but never contradicting what the others wrote. Such a miracle can only be explained by having one Master Mind in control of all these human authors. Jesus, the Son of God, gave the Old Testament His full sanction: Matt. 5:18(NLT)- 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.