The Church

Ephesians 2:11-22

Over the past few weeks we have examined some things we

need as reminders in our lives. Salvation. The Trinity.
Communion.

I want us to look at the Church. What IS the Church?

Growing up in church I have been one who has always loved

church. There is something strange about me, I know. I
actually LIKED going to church, even revival services. We
don't do those anymore. It's when you actually come to
church for several days in a row. Weird, I know.

I have always had a love for the Body of Christ. There have
been times when I've been disillusioned and wished things
were different, and tried to invent something new.

We struggle with what IS "church." In Pentecostal circles,

we talk about "having church." It goes something like,
"Wow! We really had church today! The preacher didn't get
to preach!"

There was a preacher in the KC area that was also a country

gospel singer and he would sing a song, "Crank up the music
and let's have church!"

Sometimes we see church as an event. We go to church.

But here is the reality: we ARE the Church. We leave today,

we go out as the Church. Tomorrow, we will be the Church in
our homes, our workplaces, our schools.

The Church gets hammered on by those outside the Church and

those INSIDE. People grow up disillusioned and then spend
their adult lives attacking the Church. People make lots of
money writing books about how the Church has it all wrong,
and THEY have it all right. Aren't we thankful for THAT?

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But the Church is the Bride of Christ. We are the vehicle
chosen by God to fulfill the Great Commission. It's us.
Warts and all.

We need to have a solid understanding about who we are as

THE CHURCH. Eph. 2:11-22 gives us a good look.

The Church is about being IN CHRIST. It is the recognition

that outside of Christ we face division, prejudice,
alienation.

IN Christ we have peace, unity, and strength. We are

brought near BY HIM. We are IN him.

The worst part was being separated from Christ. It wasn't

being separated as Jews and Gentiles. It was being
separated from Christ. Alienated. Now... we are brought
near. Now, we are in him.

He is our peace.

He is our cornerstone.

Cornerstone. Capstone.

We are members of his household. We are not foreigners, but

fellow citizens. We have the foundation built by the
apostles and prophets. Jesus is our cornerstone. It all
lines up with him.

We are not saved for our individual edification. We do not

grow up alone. Not in Christ. We have the Body, the Church.
We are built together, growing up into Christ. There is a
place for the Church. Christ started it this way. He
intends it to stay that way.

The key: v. 22 -- "And in him you too are being built

together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his
Spirit."

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THIS is the Church!

We act IN Christ. What happens when we truly act IN Christ

as the Church?

1. People are brought near.

There aren't the serious divisions we thought there would

be. In ancient times it was Jews and Gentiles. How could
that bridge be crossed? Was there even a bridge?

In Christ, the Church rises up to call out, "All who are

thirsty, come!"

We don't have Democrats and Republicans. We don't have

black and white. We don't have rich and poor. We have US...
IN Christ!

The Church is the place where all things are supposed to be

level at the foot of the Cross. What normally divides
people does not HAVE to divide at the foot of the Cross. We
come to the Cross, we are broken, and healing flows. We
rise up new in Christ and realize how Christ is bringing
change.

This is the place of a new humanity (v. 15). Race, color,

creed... doesn't matter. We come to the Cross together.
Christ does his work in us. We are brought near. We walk
now in the power of the Spirit.

The call to come near works in all kinds of places.

It works in places of power, like Washington, D.C. Every

week there are people reaching into the lives of very
powerful politicians, diplomats, and executives. They are
quietly bringing the gospel to people who need to hear.
It's not about being rich or being poor. It's about being
away from God and needing to draw near.

Through the Spirit's work in places like Washington, D.C.,

the world can be touched. People are brought near to God.

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It's what Christ does in his Church.

Through the ministry of what is called The Fellowship in

Washington, they are reaching out to see God do some
amazing things. One of the members of the Fellowship was
working with an executive. They were talking about prayer,
especially about Mark 11:24 -- "Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours."

The executive being new in Christ said, "I can't believe

prayer works that way. How in the world does anyone expect
a mountain to move?"

They talked about it a little more and the mentor gave him
a challenge: Pray for one thing every day for a month. See
what happens.

The man decided to pray, "Lord, save Africa."

Every day, the man prayed this prayer. One evening he was
at a fundraising dinner and sat at a table with some nuns
running an orphanage in an African country. They talked
about their work. The man was overcome with compassion and
had his company send over gifts for the children. The
orphanage was so thankful, as was the country, they invited
him over to say "thank you" in person.

He went over in person. During his trip, the president of

the country asked to meet him. They were driving through
the capitol city and the executive noticed what looked to
be a prison camp outside the city limits. He asked the
president what was going on. The president said, "Those are
my political enemies."

The executive was astounded. "You need to let them go!"

The president chuckled and said, "You don't understand. If

I let them out, they will cause a coup and I will face
war."

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"It's still not right."

They had a nice visit and the man returned to the States.
Several days later he received a call from the State
Department. They questioned him about his visit to the
African country.

"What's the problem?"

"We need to know what you've done to stir up this trouble."

"What trouble?"

"The president of that country has released all his

political prisoners and is calling for a new constitution.
He is asking specifically for you to go over and help them
write it."

The man got back on a plane and when he landed in the

country, he realized what he had been praying, "God save
Africa." He could see God doing something powerful right in
front of his eyes.

The Church is used by God to proclaim the great news of

Jesus. People can be brought near!

2. It is a place of peace.

Not division.

We have areas where we disagree, but we realize those areas

are small. We don't need to be divisive.

There is so much opportunity for strife, for striving. But

in the Body of Christ, peace. That doesn't mean we don't
have strife! That doesn't mean we have an absence of
struggle!

He is our PEACE... the One who is with us in the boat. The

storm rages, but he is there. With his presence we can get
THROUGH the storm. At the end of Romans 8 is the

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declaration of who can separate from the love of Christ!
NOTHING can! And in that we have peace.

I read recently of the story of JoeAnn Ballard. She's an

African-American woman who began ministry in Memphis, TN in
1965. She had graduated from a Nazarene college and they
sent her there to open a church that had been shut down and
was in disrepair. The church was padlocked and the weeds
were winning the war in the parking lot. She worked hard to
get the church in presentable condition, opened it up, and
invited the neighborhood.

No one came. For weeks.

She went back to visit people and found they didn't want to
come because they didn't have anything decent to wear.
Taking every cent she had, she bought clothing from the
Salvation Army and distributed it to the neighbors.
Children began coming to Sunday school, and the church
gradually started to function. After a year, the
denomination sent a man to become the pastor, and she was
out of a job. But no matter; Ballard had found her calling.

From that beginning, Ballard went on to build a network of

seven centers and dozens of small, inner-city churches, as
well as to train hundreds of missionaries to care for the
Memphis poor. Her organization, Neighborhood Christian
Centers (NCC), has grown to a $2 million enterprise with
over 40 paid staff members running programs for youth,
children, married couples, and single mothers.

In the midst of a tumultuous time, she was peace to the

city. Peace was not about the absence of strife. It was
about being stable and steady and anointed in the midst of
strife.

The Church needs to be a place where people know they can

find strength in the storm. It doesn't mean everything
becomes calm. It is our call. We are to find how the Spirit
wants to use us in this city to bring peace.

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It is the Church that is called to provide stability in the
city. The city is all about change. Neighborhoods change.
Downtowns change. Buildings are taken down and news one are
going up. And in the middle of all that is a constant: The
Church. Right there with them, not going away. JoeAnn
Ballard stayed in Memphis. She wasn't going anywhere.

Louis Walton has stayed in North Minneapolis over 40 years.

He's not going anywhere. The Church serves as that place of
peace in the midst of storms.

3. It is a place of growth.

We are built TOGETHER. We become a dwelling in which God

lives by his Spirit. We are becoming together. As we grow
up, we are better equipped to be that place of peace.

Eph. 4:11ff

We learn together. It is Christ who gives us the gifts of

the Church. We are gifted with apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers.

The call is to be equipped! To be perfected. To be knit

together. There is a building project going on. We grow
together.

Our call is to be equipped for the world. Works of service.

This isn't about what God does for US. It's about what
Christ does for us... for the sake of the world.

There is a growing in maturity. There is a place where the

Body of Christ grows to unity. It's a sense of agreement. A
flowing together. The body unified still has many different
parts, but moves smoothly. It's not the left foot saying,
"Let's go THIS way," and the right foot saying, "NO! I want
to go THAT way!"

The call is to grow up. The Church should be a place of

growth. This is a place to be constantly challenged. We
stretch our minds, our spirits, our hearts. This isn't a

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place where we only hear what we want to hear, or find
agreement 100 percent of the time.

The Church is a place where we mature. We pursue the

knowledge of Christ. We expand ourselves and in doing so
expand the Kingdom.

We learn Christ. Then, we aren't blown around by every wind

of doctrine that comes down the road. I was reading about
more Charismatic stuff we do and call it Christian. There
was a man who claimed an angel walked into a restaurant
where he was sitting, did surgery on him, took out his
intestines and put in some "gold stuff." WOW! Isn't that a
glorious testimony!

We can fall prey to so many wacky things when we aren't

growing up in Christ!

The Church is a place of GROWTH. We come in as infants. We

grow into maturity. It's such a horrifying thing to see a
30 year old in diapers with a pacifier sticking out of
their mouth! They have their blankie...

But we ACCEPT that in the Church! We allow people to NOT

grow and just suck on pablum all their spiritual lives.

This is NOT the Church! We grow! We learn together. We

strive to see his Kingdom come, HIS will be done!

The Church has leaders. There are people called by God who
lead the Church in spiritual growth. There are all kinds of
gifts given to the Church to see this accomplished. We need
ministry gifts in the Body! We need those who are growing
in Christ and then calling others to growth and maturity.

The ministry gifts equip the other members of the Body to

do the work of ministry. We don't PAY people to do
ministry. We have ministry gifts who teach everyone to DO
the work of ministry! We all grow up.

We are the ones Jesus said he would use. We are the ones

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referred to in Matt. 16 when he declared he would build his
Church. Hell can't stop it.

Sometimes we look around and wonder, "Is hell afraid of

THIS?"

And the answer is, "YES!"

It's HIS Church! HE will build it!

So we go on growing up in him. We call each other higher,

to be mature, to know Christ. We live out the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace. We SHOW the world want it is
like to have walls broken down. We show what it's like for
Democrats and Republicans to worship together! Black and
white. All races. We live in a community that calls people
to come near to God!

We are the ones called to bring peace. We demonstrate peace

because we know the presence of Christ in the midst of
strife.

Christ will build his Church in Columbia Heights. A place

of peace. There can be chaos all around, but people will
know, this is the place of peace. We are the ones who will
be called, as Isaiah said, "The Sought Out Ones."

We are to be the place where Christ works in power. A place

of salvation, healing and deliverance. His Church.

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