February 5th, 2012
MP3 Audio
Youtube video
The 'Three Floors' of Your Church
A. Basic structure
1) God's floor (1F) － to serve and love God.
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (Mark 18:28-30)
2) A floor for each other (2F) － to serve and love one other.
The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1John 3:16-18)
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)
3) A floor for the world (3F) － to serve and love this world.
"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
B. The purpose of Your Church and the way to keep on building it up
1) Loving and serving
2) "OJT"
Summary
Your Church exists to help people regain the way that they were meant to live when they were created by God. That way is, above all, to love (=serve) God and all of his creation. But you will never learn how to love simply by readings things or listening to people talk about it. We learn to love by actually doing it, little by little. For that purpose, God invited you to join in his Body at Your Church and called on you to be part of his work here. When the world sees this love, it can be transformed into the healthy state that it was originally meant to be in. This is an incredibly big task. Most likely, we won't see this work completed while we are still alive. But just as Abraham and Moses believed in God's promises for them even when didn't see their fulfillment with their own eyes, we need to continue our walk towards the completion of God's Kingdom.
For Discussion
1) What is Your Church's purpose?
2) What can we do to achieve that purpose?