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  • 11 Healthy Churches Seek to Reproduce

    11 Healthy Churches Seek to Reproduce
    2022/07/03
    [* For the past ten weeks, we have been considering "The Marks of a Healthy Church." As we have considered various passages of Scripture, we have seen that there are four primary areas of interaction in the body: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, and Stewardship. In all of these areas though there ought to be a desire for unity and for the involvement of all of the body. The church is not social club, it is a spiritual fellowship (or even stronger - unit). * The first two messages came from Acts 2 and 4. In those messages, David pointed out that the foundation of the church is Christ, and then building blocks of the church. Discipleship is one of those core building blocks. Discipleship is literally "teaching someone the teachings of a teacher" or "disciplining someone in the disciplines of a discipler". The first step of "discipleship" is conversion. This is the exhortation and command of Christ ... that we MAKE DISCIPLES ... by GOING, BAPTIZING, and TEACHING. * Evangelism isn't just the "job" of the pastor ... or the "evangelist." We are all called upon to go. Are you willing to trust God ... and obey? People need the Lord! * This message was presented on July 3, 2022 by Bob Corbin.
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  • 10 Real Life in Christ

    10 Real Life in Christ
    2022/06/26
    [* We are near the end of our message series - "The Marks of a Healthy Church". We are adding a message on Evangelism next week, which will conclude the series after 11 weeks. In this series we are looking at various passages in the Bible to draw out and apply things that characterize a healthy church, including who and what we are as a healthy church and what a healthy church does. In the last three weeks we have looked at these: Diversity of the church in 1 Corinthians 12, where the "Body" analogy illustrated how God places each person in the "Body" of Christ as God sees fit and for the overall good of the body; the Excellency of the church from 1 Corinthians 13-14, seeing that God gives those within the church a desire to glorify God through the unity of the church, revealing the love and mind of Christ in elevating each person's love of others above love of self; and from 2 Corinthians 8-9 the Stewardship of time, abilities, and wealth in service of Christ, where our use of what we have combined with the exceeding grace of God furthers His kingdom and leads to the outpouring of thankfulness by God's people, bringing glory to God. * Today we take a look at what the writer of Hebrews said about healthy believers. Prior to chapter 10 of Hebrews, the writer has made many key points about Jesus, including these: Jesus is greater than the angels; Jesus is greater than Moses; Jesus is greater than the Jewish High Priest; Jesus' priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood; Jesus has a more excellent ministry; and Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant, the New Covenant. Today we look at the first set of exhortations the writer gives to believers after he has introduced and covered the New Covenant. * Healthy believers lead to healthy churches, and healthy churches help individuals to be healthy believers. * This message was presented on June 26, 2022 by David Hayes.
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  • 09 Stewardship of the Church

    09 Stewardship of the Church
    2022/06/19
    [* We are nearing the end of a series on "The Marks of a Healthy Church." * We have considered the characteristics of the early church from Acts. They "continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers...and... continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house" * Jesus' desire for unity among the believers in the church was critical for His message to be heard and "that the world may believe that You sent Me." * There are four major areas in which the church functions - Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship and Stewardship. * We have examined Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12-14 considering the Unity of the Church, the Synergy of the Church, the Diversity of the Church and the Excellency of the Church. * Today we will look at the fourth "ship" in the functioning of the church. * This message was presented on June 19, 2022 by Steve Moore.
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  • 08 The Excellency of the Church

    08 The Excellency of the Church
    2022/06/12
    [* As we have been considering "The Marks of a Healthy Church," we have seen that unity is a significant “Mark” for which to look. Jesus had prayed for His followers to be one as He, the Father and the Spirit were one; as a testimony to the world. * The goal of this Oneness is for each believer individually, and the assembly combined, to be conformed to the image of Christ. * The church is referred to as the "Body" of Christ. Last week we examined 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul breaks out this word picture further by revealing that the body of Christ is made up of many members, yet it is one body. Each individual in the assembly was brought by God into the assembly as He has seen fit. Each member has been gifted with a special gift from God, to be used for the "profit" of the whole assembly. * Today, we want to continue this examination of Paul's description of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12-14, by considering The Excellency of the Church ... that which truly gives those within the assembly a desire to glorify God through the unity of His church. The Excellency of the Church is the expression of "agapao" love in its other-focusedness, or more specifically ... revealing the love, and mind, of Christ in elevating my love of others above my love for myself. * This message was presented on June 12, 2022 by Bob Corbin.
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  • 07 The Diversity of the Church

    07 The Diversity of the Church
    2022/06/05
    [* We are considering "The Marks of a Healthy Church." Over the past two weeks, we began focusing upon the Unity of the Church. * First we saw that Paul's teaching on unity was based upon the exhortation that he gave in verse1: that believers should "walk worthy of the calling with which we were called." This "calling" was to be conformed to the image of Christ. Christ's desire for His followers were for them to be one in order that the world might know that He and the Father were one. Hence, as we are conformed to the image of Christ, we will demonstrate His desires for the assembly. That desire for unity will be revealed in our conduct and reflected in our doctrine. * Last week we saw how our call to be conformed to the image of Christ should be the common goal of the body of Christ. Jesus prayed for His followers to be made perfect in oneness. Hence, the desire - collectively - to be conformed to the image of Christ is THE mark of perfection to which we should strive toward and be participating in. That is best accomplished when the body is functioning synergistically. * As we saw last week, God worked out the process by which the church can/should accomplish this goal - 1) The Lord Endows the Body; 2) The Leaders Equip the Body; and 3) The Members Edify the Body. Today, we want to continue to examine this process through a consideration of Paul's teaching to the church of Corinth. * This message was presented on June 5, 2022 by Bob Corbin.
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  • 06 The Synergy of the Church

    06 The Synergy of the Church
    2022/05/29
    [* As we are considering "The Marks of a Healthy Church" ... last week we began a four-part consideration of the unity of the church, looking specifically at Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12-14. * The teaching of Paul in Ephesians 4 was based upon the exhortation that he gave in verse1: that believers should "walk worthy of the calling with which we were called." This "calling" was to be conformed to the image of Christ. That is why Paul exhorted the Roman believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices - not being conformed to the world but rather be transformed in the renewing of their minds ... that they might have the mind of Christ ... proving what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God! * This calling, and desire, to be conformed into the image of Christ will have a unifying impact in our individual lives and as we interact with other believers within the church. This call to be conformed to the image of Christ will be revealed in our desire for unity in our conduct with others (through humility, patience, and commitment) and reflected in our desire for unity within our doctrine. * As we continue in this teaching, we see that it is actually the joint conformance of the church (as the body of Christ) to His image that is our collective calling! We have koinonia - a common bond - with one another because of our koinonia with Christ. This common bond * Today, we see how our call to be conformed to the image of Christ should be the common goal of the body of Christ. It is THE mark of perfection to which we collectively should strive toward and be participating in. One of the chief marks of a truly healthy church is the level of synergism displayed within the assembly. * Synergy - "the interaction or cooperation of two or more agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects." (Oxford Dictionary) * This message was presented on May 29, 2022 by Bob Corbin.
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  • 05 The Unity of the Church

    05 The Unity of the Church
    2022/05/22
    [* We are in the midst of a series considering "The Marks of a Healthy Church." * Over the past two weeks, we have considered the two passages where Jesus specifically refers to "the church" as He was preparing His followers to continue the work after His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. * There is another passage in which Jesus specifically refers to the church without using the term. In His prayer to the Father - recorded in John 17 - Jesus specifically makes a request to the Father on behalf of those who would believe based upon the testimony of His disciples. Specifically, He asked the Father that we might be one as He and the Father were One. This desire for the Unity of His followers was critical for their message to be heard ... "that the world may believe that You sent Me." In fact, He states that it is this unity that would mark the "perfection" - full maturation - of the church. * With this desire of Christ in mind, we want to spend four weeks examining this critical element of a Healthy Church. * During the first two weeks of this series, we saw from Acts 2 and Acts 4 that the early church "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" ... and ... "Continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart ..." * Two weeks ago, I mentioned four major areas in which the church functions - Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship, and Stewardship. Worship is our adoration and praise to God for who He is and what He has done. Discipleship is the process of training, and equipping, others in teachings of our Messiah (this includes 'evangelism' which is many times separated into its own category). Fellowship, as David discussed last week, is our association with one another in a common venture - and that venture is serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Stewardship is the conducting, supervising, or managing of something entrusted to one's care. These four areas are blended together in the many ministries of the church. We will see that this is specifically true when considering the overarching subject of Unity. * Lord willing, over the next four weeks we will examine Ephesians 4:1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12-14 ... considering The Unity of the Church, The Synergy of the Church, The Diversity of the Church, and The Excellency of the Church. Though we will consider them as in parallel, in reality the final three would be subpoints under a title of "The Expression of Unity." * This message was presented on May 22, 2022 by Bob Corbin.
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  • 04 Discipleship and Discipline in a Healthy Church

    04 Discipleship and Discipline in a Healthy Church
    2022/05/15
    [* This is week #4 in our sermon series entitled 'Marks of a Healthy Church' in which we are using selected passages from God's Word to explore the "four ships" or "armada" of the church: Worship, Discipleship, Fellowship and Stewardship. Those four pillars support everything that characterizes a healthy, impactful and God-honoring church. * David Hayes got us started with a 2-week examination of the building blocks of the church by using key passages in Acts 2 and Acts 4 about the early church. This provided a great reminder that the church does not need to reinvent itself to align with the culture. Rather, we need to rely on God's Word to provide all that we need to function effectively in this increasingly chaotic, God-rejecting and Biblically-illiterate world in which we live. * Then last week, Pastor Bob took us back a step to consider the foundation of those 4 pillars, and of the church itself, as we looked at Jesus' vitally important question in Matthew 16, "Who do you say that I am?". For without a proper understanding of WHO Jesus is, and what He accomplished through the cross and His resurrection, the church has no basis for having any value or impact on the world today (see 1 Cor. 15:1-19) * And now, this morning, we want to take some time to focus on just one of those “ships” or "pillars", namely Discipleship. We'll start by looking at the nature of true discipleship, and then take a look at what I believe is one of the too often neglected disciplines of discipleship, namely how we deal with sin in the church. In other words, the discipline of church discipline. I'll then share a few thoughts about the power behind effective discipleship and church discipline, before wrapping things up by talking about how we can apply what we learn this morning in the context of Jesus' Great Commission of Matthew 28. * This message was presented on May 15, 2022 by Chuck Sabo.
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