THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH

Preached by Gregory W. Lee
7 May 2006

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Ephesians 4

1. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
2. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
3. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4. There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called--
5. one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6. one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
8. This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."
9. (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions ?
10. He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
11. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12. to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13. until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.


-- e-mail -- concern over no increase in membership in at least 17 years -- more concerned over lack of outside visitors on Easter -- time when we should be seeing lots of visitors from outside the church coming in -- Christmas and Easter are the two days when the church expects visitors -- for a lot of people this is the only times they come during the year -- we had no visitors outside of family
-- why? -- point to several reasons -- odd church times -- country settings -- but it really comes down to the fact that we are failing to fulfill our responsibility as the church of Christ

II. Purposes of the Church
-- I have always said that I was not concerned with numbers -- but now I think that may have been a mistake on my part -- while I still don't think the number of people on a church roll are as important as the number of members who actually attend and are involved in ministry through the church, I am concerned that our failure to grow might be an indication that we are not fulfilling Christ's commands to us as His body here on earth

-- Rick Warren -- Five Purposes for individuals and churches -- Great Commission and the Great Commandment
-- it is our responsibility as Christians to go and to tell others about Christ -- to be evangelists for Christ and to see people brought into the church -- the local body of believers
-- true church growth only comes from evangelism

-- trends in the UMC -- focus seems to be on church growth through building new churches
-- small church seminars -- how to grow the small church -- no mention of evangelism but on marketing to sell yourself to community
-- leads to "sheep shifting" rather than professions of faith -- artificial growth

-- example -- growth in U.S. -- our population in the U.S. continues to grow every single year -- but, it's an artificial growth -- American families are not producing enough children to replace themselves, much less grow -- fertility rate? -- growth is coming from immigrants -- if you stopped all immigration, our country would cease to grow
-- that is what is going on in the UMC -- we are not growing converts on our own -- we are relying on sheep shifting to maintain our numbers

-- Bishop James Swanson -- kids in 50's and 60's -- UMC lost focus on evangelism -- and our stagnant growth is a direct by-product of that type of direction -- that is why professions of faith are down while population levels continue to rise -- we are not producing enough spiritual children to maintain our churches, much less to grow them
-- answer is not to build new churches -- answer is to shift the focus to evangelism

-- about 20-30 years ago, Southern Baptists went through a period of revival and renewal -- focused on evangelism -- the result was increased growth in the Baptist Church -- for years, the Southern Baptists have led all other denominations in membership increases based solely on professions of faith
-- granted, I don't think they do enough discipleship training to lead new converts to maturity, but the fact is, they are growing because they have gone out and evangelized -- we are not growing because we have not done so

-- this church and the UMC have been trying to live on the "Field of Dreams" concept -- build it and they will come -- just exist and people will show up -- but that is not the direction of Christ and that is not the example of the early church

-- called to go and make disciples -- called to go and tell others about Christ -- called to go and bring others into the church

-- role of the pastor in evangelism -- verses 11-14 -- my job is to teach sound doctrine, to proclaim God's word, and to defend the faith -- my job is to build up the church -- to equip you to go forth and do good works in Christ's name -- to prepare you for works of service so that the church may be built up

-- pastor is like a coach -- doesn't actually go out and play football -- but trains others and builds them up and sends them forth -- it is your responsibility as members of Christ's church -- the catholic church -- the church universal -- and this particular body of believers -- to go forth and tell others the good news of Christ -- to lead them to the point of salvation and to help them get settled into a church -- whether it's this church or another

-- here's the question for this morning -- do you want to see the spiritual heritage of this church continue into the future? -- do you want to see the spiritual legacy wrought by your ancestors continue into the future?

-- Ann Caedle -- church in Henderson where her grandfather attended -- dwindled down and closed -- the spiritual heritage and the spiritual future of that church was lost -- a light that shone into the darkness to guide weary travelers to safety and rest in the arms of Jesus went out

-- do you want to see that happen here?
-- we have to be intentional about bringing people to Christ and into the church

III. Why join the church?
-- trend in not joining the church -- spiritual drifters -- spiritual hitchhikers
-- Pentagon -- Capt Buzo -- "slogging" -- sanctioned hitchhiking -- article in Moody Bible Institute magazine -- hitchhiker wants a free ride -- assumes no responsibility for the money needed to buy the car, the gas to run it or the cost of maintenance -- expects a comfortable ride and adequate safety -- assumes the driver has insurance covering him in case of an accident -- thinks little of asking the driver to take him to a certain place even though it may involve extra miles or inconvenience

-- spiritual hitchhikers -- wants all the benefits and privileges of church's ministry without taking the responsibility for it -- attitude is all take and no give -- wants no accountability -- just a free ride -- and if he actually has to start doing something -- if they are called to live up to their spiritual calling and mandate -- well, then, they'll just go to another church

-- we need to help lead this country back to the place where there is an emphasis on church membership again -- we are a "joining" people -- that is why we are so busy -- we join clubs and community groups -- health clubs -- PTOs -- softball teams -- employee organizations -- all kinds of things -- but people are not joining the church like they did 30 years ago

-- trend started in 60's and 70's -- individual spiritualism -- no need to be connected -- I can find God on my own and in my own way -- and the church has done little to reach out to these people through evangelism or discipleship to let them know why Christ built His church in the first place

-- church is the only institution that Christ built when He was on earth -- He expected us to be in a church -- not only in the universal, invisible church that we enter into when we are saved -- but actively participating in a local body of Christ

-- after we have evangelized our friends and family -- after they have been saved through the grace of Christ and brought into the Kingdom of God -- we need to encourage them to join a local church -- if not this one, then another -- all of our churches in this area are hurting for members

-- why should we join the church?
1. Biblical Mandate -- Christ established the church and expected us to belong to it -- the testimony of the early Christians was that they belonged to local groups of believers -- in Acts we read of people being added to the numbers of the church -- in Timothy, we read of the lists of widows that was maintained in the church -- obviously, the early churches had a membership list of some type that listed who was part of that particular local body of believers
-- instructions on spiritual discipline given by Jesus and by Paul do not make sense unless you acknowledge a membership list in the local church -- Paul says to put unrepentant, backslidden believers out of the fellowship -- how do you put someone out of fellowship unless you have a way of putting them in? -- it is a Biblical mandate for believers to be part of a local body of Christ

2. Public Identification with Christ -- joining the church is the primary way we publically profess our faith in Christ -- it is how we identify ourselves as Christians -- Christ said that if we did not stand up with Him in this age, that He would not stand up for us in the age to come -- after we are saved, we are called to be baptized and to place official membership in a church as a public confession of our faith in Christ

3. Place to Express our Spiritual Gifts -- Paul tells us that our spiritual gifts were given to us for the common good -- to be used as part of the body of Christ to help build up the body and minister to believers and others corporately -- when you are saved and indwelt with the Holy Spirit, He gives you a particular spiritual gift that is to be used in the church where you have placed your membership
-- the church is to be a place of commitment and activity -- a place where you are actively serving Christ through ministry to others -- if you are not serving Christ as a member of a church, then you are not fulfilling your responsibilities as a Christian

4. Place of Accountability and Spiritual Protection -- churches function as gate-keepers of sound doctrine and Christian living -- in their teachings on church discipline, Jesus and Paul said that the church members are to hold each other accountable -- to help them live lives worthy of the calling that Christ has placed on them -- and, that if you see someone drifting away from Christ -- giving in to sin in their lives -- you are to gently guide them back to righteousness
-- churches function as places of accountability -- helping you stay on the straight and narrow by keeping you close to the cross -- when people join the church -- whether through baptism or through transfer of membership -- the congregation convenants with them to help them grow in grace -- to mature in their faith -- and to hold them accountable to living the Christian life -- people who live outside the church live outside this accountability and can easily fall sway to false doctrines or sinful habits -- we need the church and the presence of Christ in the church to keep us holy
-- also, churches are places of spiritual protection and growth -- role of the pastor and church leaders as shepherds is to protect the flock from danger -- think of the Da Vinci Code and some of the other false teachings in our country -- without instruction from godly men and women, people everywhere are being misled by these false doctrines

5. Places of Magnified Ministry -- as Christians, each of us are called to go forth and ministry in Christ's name -- to evangelize others -- to bring them into the church -- and to disciple them and teach them to obey all that Christ commanded us to do -- alone, we are like a single candle in the dark -- but when we join together with other Christians to form His church -- then our single points of light unite to form a powerful beacon that can penetrate the darkness and lead others to Him -- together we can do so much more that we can do alone
-- UMC connectionalism -- not only do we exist as a single congregation -- but we are part of a larger whole -- that is one reason why we pay apportionments -- to fund ministry activities that we could not do on our own
-- we have to do our part -- we are called to do our part -- and when we go forth and minister in Christ's name and others are doing the same -- together we become an unstoppable force that demonstrates the love and grace of Christ to a watching world

-- Bible gives us four pictures of the church in the New Testament: temple, body, flock of sheep, family -- Eric Lane pointed out that these four pictures tell us different things about what it means to be a member of a church:

-- to be a stone in God's temple means we belong to a worshiping community -- first and foremost, we exist to worship God and thank Him for all that He is and all that He has done

-- to be part of a body means that we belong to a living, functioning, serving, witnessing community -- a group of believers who function together as one to minister and fulfill the calling and commandments of Christ

-- to be a sheep in a flock means that we belong to a community dependent on Christ for food, protection, and direction -- it acknowledges the Lordship of Christ and our utter dependence on Him for our very lives

-- finally, to be a member of a family means that we belong to a community bound by a common Father -- as Paul wrote in this passage, we are bound through the bond of peace -- we are family because we are united into one body by our Father -- by the Holy Spirit -- One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of All -- who is over all and through all and in all

-- the church is Christ's body here on earth and the reasons why we should be doing all we can to build up His body on earth -- through evangelism and discipleship and ministry -- should be painfully obvious by now

IV. Closing -- How to Join the Church
1. Profession of Faith
2. Transfer from other UMC
3. Transfer from other denomination

-- response to call to join the church -- first, examine yourself to make sure you are saved -- that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- our churches are filled with people whose names may be on the church roll but who have never accepted Christ as their personal Savior -- this is the first step that we all must take -- then, we should get baptized and join the church as our first public confession of Christ as Lord and Savior

-- as I close this morning, let me ask you one more time -- Do you want to see the spiritual heritage of this church continue into the next generation and beyond? -- we have no one to blame for our failure to grow except ourselves -- we have failed to live up to Christ's calling to go and make disciples -- to bring people into His church and to lead them into a maturing faith in Him -- if this church is to survive, then we must become intentional in reaching out to others around us
-- give altar call and call to join the church