Extracts from an interesting sermon

http://www.fairviewpc.org/sermons/100711FPC_Sermonclub.pdf

Somebody once said that there are three great scandals associated with Christianity. There is the scandal of the incarnation: the idea that God would take on human flesh. There is the scandal of the cross: that God would sacrifice his Son for the redemption of people. And there is the scandal of the church: that God would entrust the spread, promotion and development of the faith to people such as you and me. C. S. Lewis was absolutely right when he said that you go to church on Sunday and you meet there the people you have been avoiding all week.

Jesus told the parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the good and the bad seed, the grain and the weeds. Unlike most of Jesus' parables, he thought this parable important enough to warrant an explicit explanation of its meaning. He did not wish us to miss the point. . . .

First, it tells us that no particular church here on earth is perfect. Some are better than others, no doubt, but none is perfect. The search for a perfect church this side of paradise is a quest for the holy grail, it is an impossible task. The perfect church, here on earth, is a figment of our imagination. I have a colleague who summed things up rather nicely I thought when he said of his congregation, this would be the perfect church, if it were not for the people, and if I were not the pastor.

The first thing to be said about the church is that there is no such thing as a perfect church. It is a mixture of the good and the bad. The second is that the church is both the invisible and the visible. . . .

As Christians we think of the church in terms of two spheres: the visible and the invisible. The local church is, obviously, the visible church. Warsaw International Church is a visible church. Our particular home churches are visible churches. The denominational communities we belong to are the visible church.

The invisible church is the church universal. It includes the church militant: God's people who are alive today, and the church triumphant: God‟s people who have died and now are in his presence.

There is an overlap to these two spheres, but they are not identical. There are those who are in the visible church who are not, in fact, part of the invisible church. They are the tares, the weeds, in Jesus' parable. Similarly, there are some that are in the invisible church that may not be in the visible church. These include, for example, isolated radio believers, or persons who have fallen, temporarily, out of fellowship with a local church body, or still others who have faith in Jesus Christ but are members of local churches whose teaching is outside the mainstream of Christian orthodox belief.

TBC

On the one hand, the church is a mixed bag of good and evil, wheat and weeds. On the other, it is a combination of both the visible and the invisible, the seen and the hidden. Nonetheless, classic Christian theology has made four vital affirmations about the nature of Christ's church. Three of them are affirmed each time that we recite together the Apostle's Creed. The fourth is captured in the creed's name. It is the Apostle's Creed.

Enigma's addendum: The Nicene Creed (as amended/updated) now expressly adds the fourth: apostolic.

Four classic characteristics of the Church

One

. . . . The church is simply the aggregate of the people of God.

The first thing that is said is that the invisible church is one. God's people have a true unity. By God's power there is a true oneness to his church that unites his people with the whole company of the elect, in every time, in every place, from every tribe, tongue and nation.

In contrast to the invisible church, which is united, the visible church is deeply fragmented. In the visible church, we are divided. We are divided locally, according to geography. We are divided by the realities of theology, denominational structures, nationhood, ethnicity, personal rivalry, competition, history, which prevent us in the visible church from truly reflecting the unity we possess in Jesus Christ.

The Christian goal is not unity for unity's sake. Our union is in Jesus Christ. The path to follow to minimize the (apparently) natural Christian tendency to fragment and divide is to focus upon Jesus Christ and obedience to him. As we are draw to him we are drawn into greater communion with one another.

Holy

The first thing we say is that the church is one. The second is that it is holy. Like the church's "oneness", confessing that the church is "holy" seems, on the face of it, to be patently absurd. A survey of Church history reveals the commonness, the earthiness, of even the most renowned figures of Christian history. On the one hand we can say that Martin Luther was a great Protestant Reformer. On the other, we note that he too was an ordinary man. He once quipped that when he "breaks wind in Wittenberg they smell it in Rome."

Many today point out, rightfully, that the church is full of hypocrites. Or that church politics is no different than government or any other politics. If you want to know the real skinny on how to be ruthless in a fight then study the example of veteran church fighters. They know. Somebody once said that the church is the only army in the world that habitually shoots its own wounded.

The church is manifestly not a holy place. One reason for this is that the church is full of wounded people. . . . Another reason the church is not a holy place is that the church is full of people who are not what they should be. They are better than they once were – by the power of Christ – but they still are not what they should be. Jesus said that he would make us "fishers of men." It is obvious, I think, that you must catch fish before you clean them. The church is full of the partially sanctified.

The problem, of course, is in our understanding – or rather, misunderstanding – of the word "holy." The root of the word in Hebrew that gives us our word "holy" means "to cut." We think of holy as meaning white robes, halos, harps and never having to use the bathroom. The Bible makes clear that, in that sense, we will never be holy by our own efforts or in our own power in this lifetime. No, the church is holy in the sense that it is cut out from the rest of humanity. It is holy in that it has been set apart and given a sacred mission and task. It is the task of proclaiming Christ and of being faithful in worshipping and glorifying God the Father.

TBC

catholic

The meaning of the word "catholic" in the Apostle's Creed may be the single most commonly asked question I receive as a pastor. Young people in Confirmation Classes are especially curious about it. “Why do we say that we believe in the Roman Catholic Church when we are Protestants?” they ask. The confusion arises because the word "catholic" is not in common usage in English today. Most people hear it used only in reference to the Roman Catholic Church. And so, when they read or hear the word "catholic" in another context, they assume it refers to the Church of Rome. But this is mistaken. "Catholic," in this context, means "universal" and is not a reference to the Church of Rome.

We are confessing that we believe in the universal church. What, exactly, is the universal church? The universal church is the company of God‟s elect. One of the Greek words used for the church is ekklesia. Ekklesia comes from the Greek meaning "to call." The church are those who have heard God's call. They are God's people who have been called out from the world. They are the ones who have heard God's voice.

The ekklesia then means the totality of God's people. They include the living and the dead, believers‟ world wide, from every tongue and nation, the entire company of God's elect. It even includes those who may disagree with us and so are in differing theological or ecclesiastical camps. This last is an important point.

It is the universality of the faith that provides one of the foundational motivations for the Christian missionary mandate. We send missionaries to proclaim the gospel, make disciples and encourage converts because our faith is catholic. It is universal.

TBC

Apostolic

We affirm that the church is one, holy, catholic, and, finally, apostolic. The word "apostolic" is not found in this clause of the Creed. The reason is that the Creed itself fulfills what is intended by this word. The Creed is said to be the creed of the Apostle's. What is meant is that these truths we affirm are the core, the center, the heart of the message that was originally proclaimed by the Apostles themselves.

Enigma's addendum: the preacher is referring here to The Apostle's Creed; the Nicene Creed now specifically includes apostolic.

The Greek language made very important distinctions between the disciples and the apostles. In the ancient world, an apostle was someone who was sent out by a Lord, (i.e. a king or ruler) to represent him. An apostle carried great authority, for he represented the Lord. In contrast, the word disciple refers to one who was simply a learner, or a student, of a teacher. An apostle had the authority to represent his Lord, whereas the disciple had the responsibility to learn from his teacher.

In emphasizing the apostolic quality of our faith, we are confessing our conviction that the apostles were the true representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ. They gave to the church a faithful apostolic message, which is the historic core of what we believe and teach. In this sense, what we are confessing is that the church is tied to the apostolic message. We are not evolving into something new, we are guarding something precious and old. We are called to be a church that proclaims truth, not a university that debates it.

This is a very important point for us living in the modern world. I believe that the great threat to the modern church, particularly the church in Europe and North America, arises from the tendency to reject the apostolic faith.

TBC

And finally . . . .

Close

These are the things we confess about the church. We admit that it is a mixed bag. Some day God will sort it all out. For now, we haven't got a clue. We see the church as visible and invisible. Which is fine, except it is in the visible realm that all the problems seem to reside. The church is one, even though it is divided. It his holy, even though it is made up of people like you and me. It is catholic, meaning it is universal. And, finally, apostolic, even though many in the church are running at rapid pace away from the apostolic tradition and legacy.

Not a pretty picture, is it?

All the same, the church is God's choice. It is his chosen vehicle for the spread and proclamation of the message of his Son, Jesus Christ. . . . . it is a wonder the kingdom survives. Yet that wonder is a testimony to God's grace and sovereignty. The church survives and prospers because God empowers and blesses it in spite of its weaknesses and faithlessness. And that leads me to share one final image that seems appropriate in closing. Someone once said that the church of Jesus Christ is a great deal like Noah's Ark. The only reason you put up with the smell inside is because of the harshness of the weather outside.

Haaaa, breathe out!

God bless you, Enigma, for this. You just made so much clear to me by sharing this. I so love it. God bless you, bro.

Ihedinobi bros

Thanks and I'm glad you like it. We have a very rich heritage (yes even though 'flawed') and deep shared resources from which to tap.

God bless.

Bookmarked bro....for future reference. Great thread.

Oshe!

^^^ Bros, I like your style.

One from common heritage

"The Church's One Foundation" (Tune = Aurelia)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=molBcp8S_Ng


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SpI1jCczao

Wow, this is lovely. Very enlightening i must say. God bless you Enigma.

Meanwhile, let us enjoy the ambience and serenity of this thread before the "you know what" squad takes a notice and start chasing shadows where there are none

Thanks Ishilove (quietly: _{e be like say you still dey keep many people in suspense about Wasimi or is it me not up to date?})

Re the sermon: one thing I find interesting is that while there were of course allusions to scripture, the case was made without particularly quoting scripture. However, as I read the piece, even some of the jokes reminded me of scriptural passages. Perhaps it is me, but I find myself sometimes having a comedic or even comical picture of even very serious passages in the Bible.

Take one example ---- when Jesus had preached some serious and hard stuff, some of his disciples couldn't take it and decided to leave saying ------- "Oga, dis one harrr o; dis thing wey you dey talk too hard!" then Jesus turned to the inner circle too (i.e. the apostles) and said "abi una too wan begin go - if de thing too hard for una?" And one of them reply ---- "Whosai we wan go? Na you when get the words of eternal life!"

Compare last line of the sermon:

Someone once said that the church of Jesus Christ is a great deal like Noah's Ark. The only reason you put up with the smell inside is because of the harshness of the weather outside.

with John 6

66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

@Eni, you forgot this ""
I am very busy but I'll update The Chronicles asap.

Between, how are Eliza and Phill?

Enigma:

Re the sermon: one thing I find interesting is that while there were of course allusions to scripture, the case was made without particularly quoting scripture. However, as I read the piece, even some of the jokes reminded me of scriptural passages. Perhaps it is me, but I find myself sometimes having a comedic or even comical picture of even very serious passages in the Bible.

Take one example ---- when Jesus had preached some serious and hard stuff, some of his disciples couldn't take it and decided to leave saying ------- "Oga, dis one harrr o; dis thing wey you dey talk too hard!" then Jesus turned to the inner circle too (i.e. the apostles) and said "abi una too wan begin go - if de thing too hard for una?" And one of them reply ---- "Whosai we wan go? Na you when get the words of eternal life!"

Err...The Wafi bible, I presume.

Ishilove: @Eni, you forgot this ""
I am very busy but I'll update The Chronicles asap.

Between, how are Eliza and Phill?

Ah, you see now! Na because many people (well we) dey salivate as we dey wait --- so e dey hard to remember ya excuse.

Eliza and Phil dey oooo; they were happy say I try for cheer Phil up after e spend time for hospital recently.

Ishilove:
Err...The Wafi bible, I presume.

You wan contest me? You nefa see nothing --- in fact, some pipo don already transligamat, transulita, translatify erm abeg transfer some Bible passages into pidgin well well; some even dey this Nairaland sef --- google Psalm 23 pidgin and e suppose for comot.

By the way make I tell you two tori.

1. Some eons ago, I used to go around playing draughts at various venues. There were always various characters from different parts of the country. On one occasion, one guyman was reading Iwuayanwu's old newspaper called "The Daily Champion"; in comes this Ibadan guy who arrived at the games late and on seeing the paper said "Daily [b]S[/b]ampion"; na im one other guyman (whether from 'south-south' or that Benue side, I no remember now) begin laugh am and talk say "Look dis yeye man; e dey call [b]Y[/b]ampion, Sampion!"


2. Another time, I bin dey for that area of Lagos wey dem call Ike[b]y[/b]a when one guy bin get flat tyre and dey try jack hin car; as e dey do am now na im one Calabar guy hustler approached to help; but e be like the flat tire guy no too dey better mood and snatched the jack away almost hitting hustler Akpan for face. Na im Akpan shout one time: "look this man, e wan take [b]y[/b]ack [b]y[/b]ack my face!"

Enigma:

You wan contest me? You nefa see nothing --- in fact, some pipo don already transligamat, transulita, translatify erm abeg transfer some Bible passages into pidgin well well; some even dey this Nairaland sef --- google Psalm 23 pidgin and e suppose for comot.

Scroll through the the topics on my timeline and you will see Psalm 23 in pidgin. Unbeatable

Enigma:

Na im Akpan shout one time: "look this man, e wan take [b]y[/b]ack [b]y[/b]ack my face!"

Hahahahahahah!!!

Beneath all your bluster and big English lies a clownish character. Me likey

Enigma:

Ah, you see now! Na because many people (well we) dey salivate as we dey wait --- so e dey hard to remember ya excuse.

Na true, sincerely,I dey busy. Make una no vex for me abeg o