Why - For the Great Commission

We have been examining the fundamental reasons for pursuing a path of revitalization and rebuilding over the last 3 weeks.

The first reason we must pursue this path is "for the glory of God"

The second reason we must pursue this path is "for the good of God's people"

The third reason we must pursue this path is "for the Great Commission"

Yesterday (without the AC) we examined this reason by answering 4 questions:

First, what in the world is God doing?

Answer: God is actively seeking, drawing, redeeming, and bringing a people out of all nations to live in fellowship with Himself conforming them to the image of His Son for the purpose of sharing in His glory for all eternity by means of His chosen instruments, the church, through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that He might display His glory to them and through them so that they might worship, serve, and praise Him in all His majesty, splendor, brilliance, power, and supremacy for all eternity.

Second, Where are we headed?

Answer: Revelation 5:9-12

Third, how has God ordained for this reality to come to pass?

Answer: Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:8 - we get to participate in God's plan of redemption for the nations

Fourth, what does that look like in moving forward?

Answer: When we look at our organization & structure (ministries, programs, worship service, Sunday school, committees, outreach, etc.), are we being effective in making disciples?

We want to see:
- people growing in their love for Jesus
- people growing in their love for each other
- people growing in their love for neighbors
- people involved in opportunities of ministry
- people involved in small groups (Sunday school) growing together in Christ by engaging God's Word
- people taking personal responsibility for their spiritual growth
- people seeing themselves as missionaries wherever they are

Question we must consistently ask as we apply this to our church: How does this ("this" referring to any program, committee, decision, etc.) help us make disciples?

Healthy Church, part 9 - Biblical Discipleship and Growth

Dever writes, "Another important mark of a healthy church is a pervasive concern for the church growth as growth is prescribed in the bible. That means growing members, not just numbers." This is the important mark of watching people's lives being transformed by God's grace through the gospel by the Holy Spirit.

Here is a paragraph that is very important for many in churches today: "Some today think that a person can be a "baby Christian" for a whole lifetime. Growth is treated as an optional extra for zealous disciples. But growth is a sign of life. If a tree is alive, it grows. It an animal is alive, it grows. Being alive means growing, and growing means increasing and advancing, at least until death intercedes."

But, how do we measure growth? As we learned this past Sunday, it isn't necessarily by "bodies, budgets, and buildings".

Dever offers these possible ways:

• Growing numbers being called to missions
• Older members getting a fresh sense of their responsibility in evangelism and in discipling younger members
• Younger members attending the funeral of older members out of love
• Increased praying in the church and more prayers centered on evangelism and ministry opportunities
• More members sharing the gospel with outsiders
• Less reliance among members on the church's programs and more spontaneous ministry activities arising from members
• Informal gatherings among church members characterized by spiritual conversation, including apparent willingness to confess sin while simultaneously pointing to the cross
• Increased and sacrificial giving
• Increased fruits of the Spirit
• Members making career sacrifices so they can serve the church
• Husbands leading their wives sacrificially
• Wives submitting to their husbands
• Parents discipling their children in the faith
• A corporate willingness to discipline unrepentant and public sin
• A corporate love for an unrepentant sinner shown in the pursuit of him or her before discipline is enacted

Where are we seeing "church growth"? Where are you seeing personal growth in your life today?

Why - For the Good of God's People

Another fundamental reason & purpose for rebuilding and revitalizing is for the good of God's people. We discovered that there are at least 3 elements to rebuilding for the good of God's people.

1. Rebuilding for the good of God’s people is about getting back to the basics of our identity and purpose as a congregation.


2. Rebuilding for the good of God's people is about becoming a spiritually healthy congregation in all aspects of church life.


3. Rebuilding for the good of God's people is about helping everyone in our congregation become and maintain spiritual healthiness

Why - For the Glory of God

On Sunday morning, July 1 we dealt with the subject of rebuilding for the glory of God.

Ephesians 3:20-21 declares for the glory of God to be displayed "in the church", so we asked a question prompted from this text: how is God's glory displayed in the church, specifically a congregation of his people.

Here's how we answered that question:

God's glory is put on display when Jesus is the center of attention

God's glory is put on display when the gospel is the lifeblood

God's glory is put on display when believers are growing in Christ

God's glory is put on display when the lost are served in compassion and love

Healthy Church, part 8 - Church Discipline

The next mark of a healthy church, according to Dever, is Biblical Church Disipline. This certainly follows after the biblical understanding of church membership.

There are a couple of key passages concerning what has come to be known as "church discipline": Matthew 18:15-20 and 1 Corinthians 5. Many of the Reformers in the 1500s declared that if a church did not practice church discipline, then it was not a true church.

Over the years, church discipline is something that has been used and abused by many churches rather than being exercised in the redemptive manner for which God designed it. Just because it has been abused by some does not make it null and void as a biblical practice of the church.

While discipline itself comes in two forms, formative and corrective, it usually the corrective form that generates the most attention and controversy. Does the church, the congregation of God’s people covenanted together, have the authority to correctively discipline someone who continues in a state of unrepentant sin?

Dever offers “five positive reasons for practicing corrective church discipline”: (p. 106)

1. It shows love for the good of the of the disciplined individual
2. It shows love for other Christians as they see the danger of sin
3. It shows love for the health of the church as a whole
4. It shows love for the corporate witness of the church and, therefore, non-Christians in the community
5. It shows love for the glory of God. Our holiness should reflect God’s holiness.

He closes this chapter with the following sentence: “It should mean something to be a member of the church, not for our pride’s sake, but for God’s name’s sake.”