Movement | Part 4

Aug 12, 2018

TODAY'S SERMON NOTES

MATTHEW 16:18-19 NLT (Jesus said) Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means 'rock'), and upon this rock I WILL BUILD my CHURCH, and all the POWERS OF HELL WILL NOT CONQUER IT. 19 And I will give you the KEYS OF THE KINGDOM of Heaven. Whatever you FORBID on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you PERMITon earth will be permitted in heaven."

CHURCH = EKKLESIA = ASSEMBLY = YOU!

Church was never to be a merely…

• A building to GO TO,
• Or corporation to be CONTROLLED BY,
• Or the spiritual finish line to MARK OFF.

The church was to be the central powerhouse for a movement. Church is about leading people through the systems, relationships and tools that transform them at the deepest levels, and thereby transforming marriages, recovering addictions, healing relationships, empowering vocational aspirations, and breathing life into inspired-dreams; giving us a purpose to live… and die for.

When church attenders UNDERSTAND, INTEGRATE and APPLY THE FUNCTIONS of this movement, it changes their lives, then they too become the embodiment of the movement to outsiders. This is how we arrive at our commission, to go into all the world and preach the gospel.  

 

HOW DOES THE CHURCH CHANGE LIVES?

If our HEALTH, HAPPINESS and HOLISTIC FULFILLMENT hinges on our integration and ownership of CHURCH, shouldn’t we KNOW what a CHURCH should be about:

• Why does our CHURCH EXIST?
• What is its purpose? (My purpose?)
• How it is organized?
• How it is supposed to be LED?
• Who has the POWER TO CHOOSE what the identity, personality, style and genre a church is? (Who picks the carpet, music, what strategies will be implemented, etc.?)
• Who gets to decide what programs, ministries and activities a church has?
• Who decides the spiritual diet, core doctrines/statement of faith, and processes?
• How BUDGETS are determined? WHO decides it?
• Who determines the PASTOR’S AND STAFF SALARIES?
• Where is the ACCOUNTABILITY of its leaders?
• HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOVERNED?

 

WHAT EXACTLY IS CHURCH GOVERNMENT?

CHURCH GOVERNMENT is THE SYSTEM

by which DECISIONS ARE MADE in a church;

a description of WHERE AUTHORITY RESIDES.

 

TO WHOM DOES OUR CHURCH BELONG?

MATTHEW 16:18-19 NLT (Jesus said) I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH…

1 CORINTHIANS 3:11 NLT (Paul said about the church) For no one can lay any FOUNDATION other than the one we already have--JESUS CHRIST.

 

FORMS OF CHURCH RULE / GOVERNANCE

• Episcopal (Denomination Ruled)  
• Presbyterian (Lay-Leader Ruled)  
• Congregational (Congregation-Democracy Ruled) 
• Pastoral (Pastor Ruled)

But which form PROMOTES THE BEST HEALTH and FRUITFULNESS???

 

THE FIRST THING – UNDERSTAND AUTHORITY

QUESTION:

HOW has the Lord ESTABLISHED

the CONCEPT and UNDERSTANDING

of AUTHORITY among HIS PEOPLE?

 

CHURCH GOVERNMENT is THE SYSTEM

by which DECISIONS ARE MADE in a church;

a description of WHERE AUTHORITY RESIDES.

 

In Jewish and Christian HISTORY, has GOD led His people by…

COMMITTEE (BY MULTIPLICITY of HEADSHIP)

OR SINGULAR AUTHORITY HEAD

 

ONE AUTHORITY – NOT PLURALITY OF EQUAL AUTHORITY

• God (Does God lead as singular authority, or in plurality?)

ROMANS 13:1-2 NKJV … For there is NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD…

1 CORINTHIANS 11:3 NKJV …and the HEAD of CHRIST [is] GOD.

EPHESIANS 1:22 NKJV And HE (THE FATHER)… gave Him (JESUS) [to be] HEAD over ALL [THINGS] to the CHURCH…

• Abraham
• Moses
• Joshua
• Jesus
• Peter
• Paul
• James

  

METAPHORS OF THE CHURCH & HEADSHIP AUTHORITY MODELS

• Body of Christ (One HEAD – CHIEF SHEPHERD)
• Human Body (One HEAD – Two Heads is FREAK)
• Marriage (One HEAD – “husband is HEAD of the wife…”)
• Army (RANK and file – every soldier knows who they are accountable to)
• Shepherd (One HEAD – Sheep don’t vote)
• Family (One HEAD – kids don’t vote)

 

QUESTION:

• Doesn’t the Bible show a plurality of leadership? (Elders, Bishops, Deacons, Etc.)

 

UNDERSTANDING PRINCIPLES OF AUTHORITY

1. Authority requires a SINGULAR HEAD
2. The AUTHORITY that is given is ANSWERABLE to the one WHO PLACES him/her in that position of AUTHORITY

  

CHURCH GOVERNANCE LINES OF AUTHORITY

• The Father
• Jesus
• Pastor
• Leading-Elders
• Bishops
• Deacons
• Saints

 

ROMANS 13:1-2 NKJV … For there is NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT FROM GOD…

1 CORINTHIANS 11:3 NKJV …and the HEAD of CHRIST [is] GOD.

EPHESIANS 1:22 NKJV And HE (THE FATHER)… gave Him (JESUS) [to be] HEAD over ALL [THINGS] to the CHURCH…

1 PETER 5:2-4 NKJV (Peter wrote to multiple churches) SHEPHERD the FLOCK of God which is among you, serving as OVERSEERS, NOT by compulsion but willingly, NOT for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 NOR as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the CHIEF SHEPHERD appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

 

QUESTIONS:

• Is a Pastor-Ruled church the same as a dictatorship?
• Does a Pastor-Ruled church mean there is no accountability?
• Is a Pastor-Ruled church led by pride, arrogance and self-interests of the pastor?

 

LIFEPOINTE GOVERNANCE:

• LED/RULED by a PASTOR, DIRECTOR & CAPTAIN system
• PROTECTED by a BOARD of ELDER-MINISTERS (civil authority)
• REVIEWED by ACCOUNTANTS

  

WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THIS TODAY???

• PRAY for your Leaders
• PRACTICE trust in God’s ultimate Authority
• PROTECT the Culture of the Church

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MOVING FORWARD THIS WEEK

• WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THIS? 
• HOW WILL YOU USE IT TO HELP/SERVE OTHERS?