SERMON NOTES (Mar 20, 2016): This is His Story: Future- Eph 2:11-22

This is His Story – Eph 2:11-22

The Future Church

Intro: Darth Vader visited last Sunday. From a Star Wars Geek Blog: “From an astronomical perspective, this is a pretty interesting statement. We know the farther things are from us, the longer it takes for light to get to us. As a result what we see in the present actually happened in the past. Taking the statement "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", we assume "far, far away" is relative to us. Light from a galaxy far, far away would therefore take a long time to reach us. As a result, what we see in the present from a galaxy far, far away would actually have occurred a long time ago. Under this line of thought, we can watch the films in the present on earth, as they occurred a long time ago, "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".”

Why? 1. Because it’s a great way to Segway into today’s topic, 2. Because we had a visitor last Sunday.

I.                    Future Church Should Celebrate DEFEATED ENMITY

Perhaps biggest problem for true spirituality is insider/outsider enmity – When did it die?

a.       between people – religion

b.      between men & God – regeneration

c.       Jesus nullified (vs. 15) & crucified (vs. 16)

Key Words: Commonwealth (12),  Covenant (12), Blood (13), New Man (15)

ILL. Peace Child- Don Richardson- Canadian missionary to western Indonesia among a cannibalistic Sawi tribe whose highest value was deception. Story of Judas- hero. But also discovered that there was a redemptive analogy: 3 warring tribes made peace by chief giving his son to enemy as a peace offering: Jesus story.

II.                  Future Church Should Foster UNITY

Perhaps 2^nd biggest problem is insider disunity

a.       Choosing to remain two bodies of ordinances instead of one (vs. 15)

b.      Content to keep a barrier of dividing wall (14)

One source for salvation (cross-16) & One access to the Father (Spirit-18)

ILL. Peacemaker.net “There are approximately 19,000 major, scarring church conflicts in the U.S. each year (an average of 50 per day)”

Lifeway Research: “250 pastors leave the ministry every month”

Carl S. Dudley’s book “Conflict: Synonym for Congregation” revealed that “25 percent of the churches in one survey reported conflict in the previous five years that was serious enough to have a lasting impact on congregational life.” -

ILL. Berlin Wall- 30 years 1961-1989

III.                Future Church Should WIN SOULS Incarnationally

Natural, Incarnational, Relational, Authentic

Step 1: get real about repentance yourself.                 

Step 2: Don’t be afraid to talk to others about being a repentant person.                                                 

Step 3: Invite people into repentance.

Xenoi – foreigners (xenophobia) (19)

Paroikoi – outside house (barn dwellers) (19)

Sumpolitai – Co-citizens (19)

Oikeioi – Family members (19)

ILL. Engel’s Scale of Receptivity- move them along

IV.                    Future Church Should GROW Naturally

Vs. 20 – built on foundation

Vs. 21 – building a holy temple

Vs. 22 – building Spirit’s dwelling

ILL. Being Built: On this rock I will build my church… Church grew in Book of Acts, daily by the hundreds, thousands at times, but always exponentially.

ILL. Christian Schwarz- Natural Church Development- talks about 8 essential elements of healthy church – focus is on strengthening the weakest links to increase growth.