THE CREED: THE HOLY UNIVERSAL CHURCH & THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS

SERIES: We’re continuing our sermon series called THE CREED: WHAT WE BELIEVE.

• THE HOLY UNIVERSAL CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: And I wanted to give you an illustration of something that I experienced recently that has shown me just how powerful & timely these truths are.
  • How many of you have ever seen the old school Twilight zones. So, was watching the first episode with my family over at my in-laws house. That episode is called “Where is Everybody?”. It starts with a guy dressed in an Air Force flight suit, waking up and starting his day by going into a small diner. The music is playing, the coffee is brewing, the lights are on, but no one is around. He goes through the entire day with no human contact. Everywhere he goes, there are signs of life but no people to be found. Eventually he has a mental breakdown of fear and loneliness and you see him collapse at a cross walk pushing the button over and over again and begging for help. [5]You find out that he was hallucinating and was actually in an isolation chamber. He was actually an astronaut and they were doing tests to see what the effects would be of being in extended isolation while in space orbiting the moon. One person asks, what happened and the general who was overseeing the experiment says this “You see, we can feed stomachs with concentrates. We can supply microfilm for recreation, reading, even movies. We can pump oxygen in, waste material out. But there’s one thing we can’t simulate. That’s a pretty basic need- man’s hunger for companionship, the barrier of loneliness. That’s one we haven’t licked yet.” BOOM! You can feed, entertain, and keep someone alive, but if you don’t meet the basic need of human companionship, things go badly. Do I even have to explain that to anyone today? We’re seeing it play out right in front of us. Mental health is deteriorating, suicide attempts are rising, and people are just plain not right. And the God of the universe both designed us for human connection and then gave us his greatest gift to meet that need;THE HOLY UNIVERSAL CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. And I believe that we were made for connection & connected for a purpose! So let’s pray, then we’re going to say the creed together and then we’re going to unpack what the Holy Universal Church and the Communion of saints is and why it’s so important.

CATHOLIC=UNIVERSAL: Ever since we started this series there have been a couple of places where we have clarified language. So Some of you grew up saying “the Holy Catholic Church.” So, let me explain why we did change the word. Yes, the Apostles Creed does say “Holy Catholic Church.” However, we’re not talking about the Roman Catholic church, which is a branch in the family tree of God. The Greek word “katholikos” means universal. So, we are saying we believe in one universal church that transcends: time, culture, ethnic group, race, gender, social ranking, generation, nation, or language. A follower of Jesus named Paul said it this way [Gal. 3:26-28]

• YOUR PRIMARY IDENTITY IS AS A PART OF GOD’S FAMILY, AND AS A CITIZEN OF HIS KINGDOM: When you gave your life to Jesus, when you were baptized, your identity is no longer defined the way the world defines it. You are first and foremost a Son or Daughter of God, a citizen of the Kingdom of heaven. It’s not about being old or young, black, white, brown, Asian, Hispanic, rich, poor, middle class, American, European, Latin, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian. Those are the ways the world defines themselves. And Paul says, “who you are because of Jesus” is the only definition that is important. Additionally, the term One Holy Universal Church includes every follower of Jesus: Past, Present, and Future. It includes the Visible and the Invisible Church. The church on earth, and the church already gathered in heaven. And we are given a picture of what the One Holy Universal Church will look like one day. God gave a man named John a vision of what will happen in the future. And he described it this way…[Rev. 7:9-10]
  • Picture this: skin color doesn’t go away in heaven. Languages don’t disappear. You have people singing in Korean, French, Greek, Arabic, Aramaic, Congolese, Togalog, English, Spanish. You have a beautiful array of skin tones all mixed together. But they are not divided by those things. They are bringing all of that beautiful diversity that God created into his presence and they are united in one thing: Praising the one who died to save them and make them one. When you look at this world, that is what it is longing for! But it isn’t going to happen through politics, or laws, or schools, or any other human solution. The Lamb that was slain is the only one who can create that kind of community! There is a line from a song by the band Switchfoot that describes this perfectly. “I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians, watching for the sky to get torn apart.” I want that day. I long for that day so badly. But until that day comes, but we have to be committed to...

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: If I were to give my best definition of what this phrase means it would be “people who share their lives with each other and are united in purpose together.” That has two parts: Connected to each other, and sent into the world. The bible describes what this looks like in [Acts 2:42-47]. It says that they devoted themselves. Devotion means I focus on it and make it a priority. They devoted themselves to learning about Jesus, and they devoted themselves to fellowship. That word doesn’t mean food, although it often includes food. That word means they made it a focus and a priority to be with other believers. They said no to other things so that they could say yes to the people of God. To have real, deep, vulnerable, honest relationships with other brothers and sisters in Jesus! We told what these kinds of relationships should look like in the bible in the verses we call the “one-anothers”. There are…

• 59 ONE ANOTHERS: DOWNLOAD HERE I’m going to refer to just a couple of them. Encourage one another, Build one another up, pray for one another. Those are great! We love those. We’re all like, yeah, I’m all for that kind of relationship. But how about these? Forgive one another. Nope, don’t you know how bad they’ve hurt me? Admonish one another. I can’t call out anyone else for sinning, that’s not my place. Confess your sins to one another. I’m not gonna do that, they’ll see me differently and not want to be around me. Bear with one another. This ones huge. The word “bear” means to endure something unpleasant or painful. Jesus is telling us right off the bat- this is hard and it is going to be painful. I know what it’s like to love hard people, selfish people, broken people. I did it. And if I did it, I can help you to do it through the power of the holy Spirit. Will it be painful? Yep. It caused me to die. It will cause you to have to die to yourself as well. Jesus intentionally took sinful people and put them together in a family for the sake of changing them into who they were meant to be. That’s why one of our core values is that we are connected beyond convenience. Turn to the person next to you and say “you have to bear with me!” Now say, I have to bear with you!”
  • Most Christians are excited to claim the Universal Church. But they often struggle with the Local Church. But you cannot love the groom and hate the bride. It just doesn’t work that way. You choose Christ, you get the Church. And you cannot do the one-anothers we’re commanded to do unless you are part of the local church. You will never become who you were meant to be without being in deep, real, messy, honest, authentic relationships with other believers. If you find “the perfect church” first of all you’re wrong. There’s no such thing here on earth. But if it does seem perfect, don’t join, because you’ll blow it up. No one who is part of the church will escape being hurt by the church. But if you go in recognizing that the church is full of people who are in progress just like yourself, then you’ll be prepared to learn to forgive, to be patient, to bear with and accept one another. And in turn, they will do the same for you. And together, by the Power of the Holy Spirit, you will become more like Jesus. Jesus created the church to transform us and then send us out into the world to
• SHOW THAT JESUS IS REAL AND ALIVE: I have had people come to me and say “Nic, because you guys give clothes away to those in need, I felt like I could take this Christian thing seriously.” Or I have had people say “Nic when I saw how that couple forgave each other and their marriage turned around, I thought maybe Jesus could do that for me too.” Or “when I heard that you guys loved that person that no one else seemed to love, I thought maybe they’ll want someone like me too.” That’s what happened in the early church. It says that [Acts 2:46] Christians were so good at loving each other, spending time together, meeting each others needs that they “enjoyed the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” People will be drawn to real relationships and real love that forgives and endures because we are hardwired for community and what the world has to offer will never satisfy. WE ARE MADE FOR CONNECTION AND & CONNECTED FOR A PURPOSE!

JOIN, GATHER & SCATTER

So this morning I want leave you with 3 next steps. First if you haven’t chosen to give your life to Jesus we want to invite you to…

1. (JOIN) THE FAMILY: Baptism has regularly been the first step into the family of God. It is the process of dying to who you used to be and becoming new and part of a new community. [check box] For those who have given their lives to Jesus we are called to…
2. (GATHER) together regularly as the local church. THAT MEANS WE MUST MAKE BEING TOGETHER A FOCUS AND A PRIORITY: For us to say yes to being with other believers, that means we need to be able to say no to things that get in the way. You don’t make time, you have to Guard your time! And everything in this world is fighting to take over.The amount of change you will experience will directly depend on how much time you spend with God’s people.And finally…
3. (SCATTER) LOVE OTHERS THE WAY YOU’VE BEEN LOVED: We are called to love others who are CURRENTLY NOT PART OF GOD’S FAMILY in order to INVITE THEM TO BE. Forgive, pray, bear, be compassionate, love them. Everyone of them. Loving those in our workplace, our schools, our neighbors, our families in such a way for them to see that Jesus is King and that he is real.

My prayer is that you will see the church not only for what it is, for what it is meant to be, but for what it will become.

We are practicing for who we will be. I love the way John Stott says it…

On earth [the church] is often in rags and tatters, stained and ugly, despised and persecuted. But one day she will be seen for what she is, nothing less than the bride of Christ, “free from spots, wrinkles, or another disfigurement,” holy and without blemish, beautiful and glorious. It is to this constructive end that Christ has been working and is continuing to work.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Joe said that we’re like Legos, we are best when we’re connecting to other Legos. What are some ways that you can connect with other people who love Jesus?
2. Have you ever had a fight or argument with someone in your family? What did you do to fix it? How does God want his family to deal with fights and arguments?
3. The Church is a people that gathers in a place for a purpose. What would you say our purpose is? (Hint: there is more than one)
4. Many people claim to love Christ but His Church. Why do you think that is? Is it a valid reason to choose not to be part of the local church?
5. What is one way you can love the body of Christ better in the coming weeks?