“Finding The
“The Church I’d
Join”
May 27, 2007
Pastor
Bob See
The Church I’d Join
And I tell you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:18 NIV
“I hate, I
despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.
Even though
you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Away with the
noise of your songs! I will not listen
to the music of your harps.”
Amos 5:21-23 NIV
But let
justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
Amos 5:24 NIV
You have
lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god — which you made for
yourselves.
Amos
5:26 NIV
“You place
defiled food on my altar. But you ask,
‘How have we defiled you?’ “By saying
that the LORD’s Table is
contemptible. When you bring blind
animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or
diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try
offering them to your governor! Would he
be pleased with you? Would he accept
you?” says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi
1:7-8 NIV
“Oh, that one
of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires
on my altar! I am not pleased with you,”
says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.”
Malachi
1:10 NIV
And I tell you
that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew
16:18 NIV
And God placed
all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the
church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every
way.
Ephesians
1:22-23 NIV
“If your
brother sins against you, go and show him his fault,
just between the two of you. If he
listens to you, you have won your brother over.
But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every
matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to
the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you
would a pagan or a tax collector.
Matthew
18:15-17 NIV
They devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled
with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had
everything in common.
Acts
2:42-44 NIV
Those who
accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to
their number that day.
Acts
2:41 NIV
They devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer.
Acts
2:42 NIV
Everyone was
filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the
apostles.
Acts
2:43 NIV
All the
believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they
gave to anyone as he had need.
Acts
2:44-45 NIV
Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate
together with glad and sincere hearts…
Acts
2:46 NIV
…praising God
and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts
2:47 NIV
You, my
brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the
sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians
5:13 NIV
Be completely
humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians
4:2 NIV
Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God
forgave you.
Ephesians
4:32 NIV
Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all
wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in
your hearts to God.
Colossians
3:16 NIV
Therefore
encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1
Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
This is my
command: Love each other.
John
15:17 NIV
Day after day,
in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and
proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts
5:42 NIV
The farmer
sows the word. Some people are like seed
along the path, where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was
sown in them.
Mark
4:14-15 NIV
Others, like
seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a
short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Mark
4:16-17 NIV
Still others,
like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness
of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making
it unfruitful.
Mark
4:18-19 NIV
“Others, like
seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty,
sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.” Mark
4:20 NIV