“I Will Build My Church” Part 12

1. “I Will Build My Church” Part 12

3. Expository Preaching Biblical Theology The Gospel We must be careful that we don’t seek to equate church health with how close we match the numbers and figures of the ‘super’ churches… Evangelism Church Discipline Conversion Discipleship Membership Leadership Prayer

4. Church Math(Dustin Neeley) “As kids, I bet most of us reading this post probably hated math—all the subtracting, borrowing, and dividing. These are all words that make pastors nervous. No wonder teachers called them "problems." But as we aged and began ministry, something miraculous happened and we suddenly fell in love with numbers.

5. Church Math(Dustin Neeley) In fact, we learned the whole new subject called "church math," like baptisms, budgets, and Sunday service attendance. The number of things to count became almost endless and almost fun—that is, as long as the numbers were up. But if the numbers went down, especially the Sunday attendance number, our spirits would often go down with them. And that is a problem indeed.

6. Church Math(Dustin Neeley) I am not against counting things when it comes to church. The old adage which says, "We count people because people count" may be trite, but it is true. We should count the things that we keep track of. But all of us will readily admit that there is something suspicious going on with our relationship with the attendance figure. I believe it is because, at times, we look to it to justify ourselves and our ministries.”

7. Finale:Healthy, What Is It? John 15:1-8

8. Big Idea “since Jesus Christ is the one who builds His church, we must submit to the process of becoming healthy as we abide in Him!”

9. John 15:1-8 “1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

10. John 15:1-8 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1–8 NIV)

11. Background • Promise of another comforter: Holy Spirit • Describes per-secution ahead, but He is the over comer • Process the Father uses to keep His church healthy. • Jesus farewell address • Going away to prepare a place for them • He is the only way to the Father

12. Jesus wants us to see the two most important players in this illustration… Vine And Vinedresser (15:1)

13. John 15:1-8 “1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

14. Isaiah 5:1-7 “Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

15. Isaiah 5:1-7 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

16. Isaiah 5:1-7 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” (Is 5:1–7 ESV)

17. John 15:1-8 Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God became the true vine, in which He alone, through His sinless life, His substitutionary death, burial, and victorious resurrection demonstrated His power over sin and death, thus enabling Him to give life to His vine, thechurch! The Father is called the vinedresser or gardener, the one responsible for the vine. “1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

18. Jesus now describes for us the… Work Of The Vinedresser (15:2-4,6)

19. John 15:1-8 The Father, the gardener, performs two tasks; He purges and prunes. How do we know which the Father will do? “1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

20. Remain Depending on whether the branches continually stay in place in the vine or not, will determine the outcome of their survival through the action the vinedresser takes. • The word ‘remain’ (meno) = ‘to stay in a given place’ • Present tense = continual action • Active voice = the subject is doing the action • Subjunctive mood = possibility that exists when the action takes place

21. Purges • Purges professing believers who are not processing true faith in Christ • They are lifeless imposters who do not belong to Christ, and therefore fall under the eternal judgment of God. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 8:1 ESV) 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1–8 NIV)

22. Imposters? “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:18–19 ESV)

23. Imposters? • How can we tell who are the imposters? • He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit… “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Pet 2:1 ESV)

24. Prunes • Prunes those who are already bearingfruit The pruning process (according to Wikipedia) entails targeted removal of diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue from the plant in order to improve or maintain the health of the plant. • The word ‘prune’, kathairo, simply means to ‘purge, cleanse, or expiate’. “1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

25. How the Father Prunes… “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” (Psa 119:9 ESV) “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4 ESV) “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Eph 5:25–27 ESV) • The Word…“3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” • Redirected focus through trials…

26. So what is the goal of all this purging and pruning? Jesus says that these processes exist in order to bear… Fruit For The Vinedresser (15:5,8)

27. John 15:1-8 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1–8 NIV) What is the purpose of the branches? 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1–8 NIV)

28. What Fruit? Ultimately, a fruit-bearing vine glorifies the vinedresser. The church of Jesus Christ is to look like Jesus Christ. We are to drink in the nutrition of His word, submit ourselves to the trials of His pruning so that we bear His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1–8 NIV)

29. So What? • What is it that you want in a church? Remember big and prosperous does not necessarily mean healthy. Church health takes time and is the work of God not man. • Why do you come to church? If you come to church simply out of habit or needing your emotional tank filled, or any other reason besides wanting to become like Jesus Christ, you are here for the wrong reason.

30. So What? • What part will you play in making our visible, local church a healthy church? If you are a child of God, you are responsible to use what He has given you to serve the body. When you do, you are bearing fruit to the Father’s glory.

31. Congregational Prayer

32. Psalm 46 Praise

33. Psalm 46 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.

34. Psalm 46 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.

35. Psalm 46 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” (Psalms 46:1–11 ESV)

36. Confession & Supplication

37. Requests Church Health Senior Pastor Fall Programs Evangelist Outreach