Sermon Notebook: The Local Church

The Local Church is God’s vehicle to transport the Gospel to the world. The NT writers employed 3 metaphors to compare the Church.

According to Peter & Paul The Local Church is …

1. A Building for Community (1 Peter 2: 4-8)

Apostle Peter refers to the Church as a Building. In the OT, the prophets referred to the Temple as the House of God. The portable Tent and permanent Temple housed the symbolic presence of God.

According to Peter, Jesus is the Designer of the Church (1 Peter 2:4-8) Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone. “Cornerstone” is a masonry term used to describe the main stone in a building. Masons laid the cornerstone first to provide precision for measurements & alignments for construction.

The Cornerstone was the “Building Block” of the building project. Jesus is our Building Block and He is building his Church with “Living Stones.”

“Stones” here is the Greek “lithos” which refers to a generic stone found everywhere in Palestine. Inexpensive stone was used for construction.

Jesus is Designing a Building with ordinary common stones - people.

Jesus is the Developer of the Church. (Matt.16:18a) Jesus is the GM of His Church. He owns the blueprints. He is the architect & Divine Developer.

Jesus is the Defender of the Church. (Matt.16:18b)

Death will claim all forms of animal, plant & human life. Renown churches will cycle into death but the NT church will never die. Why? Because Jesus is eternal and He is defending His church from all forms of lethal attacks. Jesus and His Temple of Living Stones will never die.

2. A Body with Diversity (1 Cor. 12:20-26)

The Apostle Paul compares the church to the human body. The body is singular with only one, but the members are plural with multiple members.

The human body consists of 1 tongue, 1 heart, 1 nose, 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 hands, 5 vital organs, 10 fingers, 32 teeth, 79 major organs, 206 bones, and 7 trillion nerves, The body is diversified. A local church is a living, breathing organism comprised of hundreds of diversified members.

The church is one body with people from every nation, race, gender, and status. The Apostle Paul observed the body as the church, and its organs as the members.

Within the body, the members are:

A. Connected to Each Other (1 Cor 12:20-24)

Each member of the human body is connected together. The body does not function independently of its members. Hands do not smell. Lungs do not chew. Ears do not talk. The eye is for vision. Hands are for touching & grasping. Each are connected to the other. You can see with your eyes what you’re touching with your hands.

B. Affected by Each Other (1 Cor 12:25-26)

When there is division in the body, the whole body suffers. When your tooth aches it affects your whole body - throat, jawbone, ears, sinuses, heart & lungs.

An untreated abscessed tooth could cause a life threatening infection! The church cannot be divided or have a split personality, for divisions affect everyone in the body.

Application: The Church must be of:

1. One Spirit - The Holy Spirit.

2. One Gospel - The Good News.

3. One Mission - The Great Commission.

C. Selected for Each Other (1 Cor 12:18)

God has “set” each person in the Church. The image of physician Setting a broken Bone or placing the bone in its “creative position.” God Himself selects the people. He places them knowing their gifts, skills, experiences & capabilities.

3. A Bride with Purity (Eph 5:26-27)

Apostle Paul uses a marital metaphor to refer to the church. Christ is the Groom and the church is the bride. Jesus is returning for a pure bride, not an impure prostitute.

Paul refers to the:

A. Submissiveness of the Bride (Eph 5:22-24)

The bride/church must submit to her Groom/Christ. Paul is illustrating biblical headship here. The bride must submit to the: 1. Sovereignty of God not the rulers 2. Authority of Scripture not the culture. 3. Conformity to Christ not the world.

B. Attentiveness of the Bride (Matt 25:1-13)

The Bride must attentively wait for her Groom to Return at anytime. The church must be rapture-ready!



C. Exclusiveness of the Bride (Rev 21:2) The Bride/Church of Christ is Exclusively owned by Him. Jesus is exclusively returning for His bride/church, not for religions or denominations. Jesus purchased the Church with his blood. The church belongs to Jesus and Him alone!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rev. Tom Schuj is the Director of Development for FTS. Schuj has been in ministry for nearly 30 years as a vocational evangelist and pastor in New Mexico and Tennessee. Schuj has self-published 2 books. He and his wife Tina have two daughters and reside in Memphis, TN.