4/7/13  DESIGN FOR LIFE - A Healthy Church

    Have you ever gotten up in the morning feeling sick and said, “I’m really glad I’m sick and I hope I feel worse and worse as the day goes on”?  I doubt it.  We want to be healthy and strong.  Anything that is living desires to be healthy.  None of us enjoy being sick.  We don’t enjoy dealing with doctors, medicine, needles, tests, treatments or surgeries.  We prefer health.  The church is not a religious organization.  It is not a building.  It is a living and breathing organism that must stay healthy, or it will die.
    How does the church stay healthy and grow?  What if the world, the culture, the government says that the church must shut down, or maybe shut up and be quiet?  What if all the signs and forces are against the church?  Does it just then have to give up and quit?  No, for it is alive.
    Let me read a true story.
    A family named Wood were pioneer missionaries in northwest China and Tibet. When they were forced to leave in 1949, there was a church of 200 people. Pastor Mung, then 41 years old preached on that last Sunday. He became the pastor of the church.
    Thirty five years later both the parents had passed away. They both died without knowing what happened to their labors. In 1988 their son and his cousin returned. They met Pastor Mung.  He was 80 years old and had reopened the church five years earlier.  On the first Sunday they had thirty people.  They were mostly old people.  Many were from the church when the missionaries were there.
    This 80-year-old pastor hadn’t preached in 28 years.  He spent 9 years in prison.  He could not teach or baptize anyone under the age of 18 since it was illegal to indoctrinate the young.  The government forced him to give the names of anyone he baptized to the religious affairs bureau.  They would then became subject to discrimination.  It seemed as if there was no hope for the church.
    So, how many people did they have in the church?  The pastor showed the visitors the baptism roster.  They started looking at page after page - five columns: name, age, gender, address, occupation.  Finally they asked Pastor Mung, “How many believers do you have now?” He said, “One thousand five hundred baptized believers.”
    In amazement they asked, “How did this happen?”  He smiled and answered. “Oh,” he said, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And we pray a lot!” Then he went on to describe what the Lord had done. Pastor Mung died at the age of 96. By that time they had over 15,000 baptized believers.
    How did that happen?  They relied on the Holy Spirit to empower them. And He did!  Holy Spirit Empowerment.  Prayer.  Trusting God.  Seeking God.
    When we desperately seek the power of the Holy Spirit, we can reach the lost and fulfill the commission we’ve been given.
    This amazing and true story is an illustration of a healthy church.  We want to look at God’s design for His church and how we can be healthy.
The church is living.
Organism - definition, condensed & taken from a variety of sources.
A form of life composed of mutually interdependent parts that maintain various vital processes.
A form of life considered as an entity; an animal, plant,
Anything resembling a living creature in structure, behavior, etc
An individual form of life that is capable of growing, metabolizing nutrients, and usually reproducing.
    The church is living, alive.  It is not simply an organization created to do something.
    Jesus, speaking in Matthew 16 said, “I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”  In this dialogue Peter had confessed of Jesus:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
The Church
    The church universal - all true believers in Jesus.
    The church local - a local group of believers who gather, work together to build up God’s work.
    One of the first thoughts - the church is the Lord’s, and not ours.  “I will build my church . . .”  All the powers of hell work against the church.  They will not conquer it.  They will attack.  They will cause problems and difficulties.  The will NOT conquer it.
    Another key thought - Jesus is the Rock, the solid and sure foundation of the church.
1 Corinthians 3:11 NKJV
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
    A good foundation keeps the structure strong.  When local churches keep the focus on Jesus and build on HIM, HIS word, they will be strong.
    The church was founded on a bold confession of Jesus’ authority - I will build my church.  It will continue to grow and progress through the strong proclamation of Jesus’ message and the display of his power.  We are not to compromise or soften the message.  We are to lift up Jesus and see Him do His awesome work.
    The powers of death, the powers of evil, all the forces opposed to Jesus and His church will not win the ultimate battle.  The church is to be on the offensive going against the strong spiritual walls of the evil kingdom.  The church is to reclaim the territory stolen by the evil forces.  We are to rescue people from the forces of death.  Jesus will accomplish His purpose and build His church.
    Jesus is life.  Satan is death.  When you see an emphasis on death, almost a love of death, you know it doesn’t come from God.  Jesus is life and the church He is building will not be destroyed.
The Greek word ekklësia (church) refers to a meeting or gathering of a people who are called out and brought together for a purpose. In the NT, this group is a congregation or community of God’s people—those who accept Christ’s message, entrust their lives to him and come together as citizens of God’s kingdom for the purpose of worshiping and honoring God. The word “church” can refer to a local congregation of Christ’s followers or the universal church—the worldwide community of Christ’s true followers.
Taken from the article on The Church, Fire Bible
    Called out.  We are called out of the world and the world system to serve the Lord.  While we live in the world, we are not to participate in the system, the sinful activities of the world.
    The called-out-ones will be healthy as they get as close to Jesus as they can and get as far from evil as they can.
As Jesus prayed
John 17:14-16 NKJV
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
John 15:18-19 NKJV
18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
James 1:27 NKJV
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
    Care about those in need
    Christians must keep ourselves holy before God and reflect moral and spiritual purity.  We remain where we are not polluted by the world. Our love for others goes along with a love for God expressed in holiness.  For example:
moral purity
spiritual integrity
no compromise of the Bible
separation from evil
wholeness
dedication to God
    Again, remember, we are talking about being healthy.
1 John 2:15-17 NKJV
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Lust of the flesh - impure desires, sinful pleasures
Lust of the eyes - coveting, desiring things attractive to the eye but forbidden by God
Pride of life - arrogance, pride, self-sufficient independence
James 4:4 NKJV
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
    God’s plan, His desire is for a healthy church body working hard for Him.  He wants us growing in our relationship with Him.  We must be desiring more and more of HIM.
    Here is an amazing story:  Fijian Government Silences Singing at Conference
    In Fiji, singing hymns can get you in trouble. About one million Methodists live in the south Pacific island country, and each summer 20,000 to 50,000 of them gather for a conference. Before the conference begins, they have a massive choral contest. About 10,000 people participate. They sing hymns. That’s it. Hymns. But in July 2009, the government shut them down. “No choral contest this year,” the government said. There is a lot of turmoil in Fiji, and the government feared that the big crowd might get out of hand. According to news reports, “Church officials said the government fears the conference and singing contest will lead to further political instability.” Nothing like singing Methodists to make a government nervous!
    They are on to something there, though. Christians worshiping the Lord really are dangerous—although perhaps not as those officials feared. Worshiping God in Christ upsets world systems. It is revolutionary, subversive. It brings another kingdom into view.
Kim Cain, “Fiji Bans Massive Methodist Hymn-Sing,” Religion News Service (7-31-09)
    A strong and healthy church is a real benefit to the people around it.  It is also a threat to the world system.  This is why the message of the church is under attack today.
    When people live for Jesus there are fewer problems.  A praying and vibrant church overcomes the forces of evil.

LIFE APPLICATION: The Next Step
DESIGN FOR LIFE
What do we have to do to be healthy - a healthy church?

Do we actually have to DO these things?