Sunday Sermon's
My Church Sunday
Sunday Service June 5, 2022
My Church Sunday
Introduction:Talk about you experiences at River of Life ChurchI called today my church Sunday; because today I want to share with you thedirection of the church and where I feel God is leading us as a congregation.Our Purpose statementWe exist to glorify God, serve withothers, and invest in our communitywith uncommon love.Uncommon Love
Church doesn’t have to be that complicated does it?
1. The simple church (42-43)Exp: The church really isn’t that complicated is it? So many times in our society wehave constructed our churches into all these institutions and programs andsegments that I think if the early church had seen us now they would laugh. I meancan you just picture the guys who started the early church and how they would seeus nowadays?You see the 1st church was started right after Jesus died and rose again. Jesus hadthese 12 guys from all walks of life, fisherman, businessmen, and more. He gavethem a commission to go and make disciples of all nations. He then told them to waituntil they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and then begin spreading the gospel.(Acts 1:8)They did exactly that. The very same day when the disciples were baptized in theHoly Spirit, they begin to preach and share the gospel. (It was epic) The bible saysthat 3000 people believed what they said and they begin to follow Christ and his
CIS: To explain the goals, dreams, and vision for River of Life ChurchSO: To teach inform and hopefully inspire the church about where God is taking us.MO: Devotional
teachings. (A mere 40 days before that they were crucifying Jesus) Now we have a3000-member church! In one day!That day was the birthday of the church. We still celebrate it to this day. 40 days afterEaster, the day of Pentecost.So getting back to our text, day one! The church in action.(Read 42-43)42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul,and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.Ill: Lets break this down a bit.Day one they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.1.They dug into the word; they studied the Old Testament, and listened towhat the disciples were teaching. The disciples had 3 years experience with the Sonof God. They walked with him, and this is before we had Matt, Mark, Luke, and John. Ican only imagine what those stories were like. (Dramatize)2. They were fellowshipping and breaking bread. The early church new howto party; they knew how to love each other. They actually enjoyed being together,church wasn’t a place they went out of guilt, it wasn’t a place at all, instead it waswho they were, it was their community, built of friends, family, kids, and theapostles.3. The early church prayed; this was probably before there was much music.Although the bible says elsewhere that they did sing. The early church was a churchthat was dedicated to God. They loved worship and prayer, it was central to who theywere, it was the glue that bound them together.App: But the coolest part of this early or my favorite word, primitive church, wasthat God was on the move in them. (Read verse 43)Awe came upon every soul.God was at work within them. God was on the move and everybody knew it. Signsand wonders accompanied the church. There were miracles of grace, and healings,and even later on people being raised from the dead. Things were going down inJerusalem.The best part of this whole thing was that it was incredibly simple, they met, theyworshipped and they studied. There was no secret method or master plan (ExceptGod’s plan) they simply did what was natural, and God blessed them.T/S: We must do that
2. Our Core ValuesExp: River of Life Church exists to glorify God, serve withothers, and invest in our community with uncommon love.We want to demonstrate those biblical principles as a church. We want to look likethe kind of church that Jesus would go to.I honestly ask myself that question if Jesus were to walk into our church would hefeel welcome? Are we are a church that emulates and seeks to look like what thebible calls his church?When we first started this church we prayed and prepared, and planned everythingwe could to make this thing go well. Doing what God has called us to do, and beingwhat God has called us to be.We believe that God has given each of us gifts. Gifts that God uses to edifies thechurch.Ill: Ephesians 4:11-1311 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastorsand teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body ofChrist may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in theknowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the wholemeasure of the fullness of Christ.We want to share the love of Christ in our home community.App: So we came up with 5 biblical values of what the church should look like. We 5principles that a church should seek to emulate. We prayed about it, and sought afterscripture. These 5 things are also tailored to our community. We believe God hascalled us to reach out to our community. We believe that God has placed us on 25south Tremont Street for a reason.Our 5 core values (Expand on each of them)Authentic Experiences: In worship, friendship, and in the word of God.
Overwhelming Generosity and surprising love shown through service andhonor from his people.
Knowing true freedom found only in Christ and develop a life long love forGod and his word.
We value families and believe that God wants to redeem the family andbring them together and model his love through it.
The church is made up of ordinary people and is a community of believerswho worship an extraordinary God together.T/S: It really isn’t meant to be that complicated3. The church in actionExp: Jesus said it best he said when asked what the greatest commandments were,he said love the lord God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, andthe second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.We take that for granted now! Why? Because this golden rule has shaped the waywestern civilization has functioned for thousands of years. But the statement at thetime is so breathtakingly simple and yet so hard for us to practice.Let me dumb it downLove God, first and love people.That my friend is how simple it is to be a follower of Christ.Ill: This church is always going to revolve around Jesus. We want him at every event,we want Jesus lifted up at every gathering, every meal. Every time we pull out theinflatable or watch the Seahawks beat the packers together. (Or vice versa)There was a saying, which many of us have heard. It is what it is. This church is madeup of you. This church is God’s church but it is made of people.Your support, your love, and your prayers are what brings us great joy! You are ourpartners. (Explain Philippian connection)App: The truth is that we all fail. This will never be a church of perfect people.However this will be a church where imperfect people can encounter anextraordinary God together.Here are three ways you can help1. ServeWe are going to give you opportunities to serve others at least once a month. Thiswill range from helping out in Kids church, to volunteering for the food pantry, all
the way to going on a missions trip. We are going to be doing movies in the park, andreaching out with others to build
2. PrayThis church has to be a church that runs on prayer. We cannot function, nor can weever succeed as a church unless we seek the face of God. We absolutely need theunending grace of God in order to do what he has called us to do.3. InvestWe exist to invest in our community. We want to see God, do more than we couldever ask think or imagine. This means giving even when it hurts, it means puttingyour money where your mouth is. This also means more than just giving money itmeans investing your and energy. It means allowing God to bless you far aboveanything you could imagine.Church I cannot wait to see what God is going to do. My prayer is that we won’t be aknockoff church! That we will simply do exactly what God has called us to do.May we bless this community and other communities with uncommon love.
Introduction:Talk about you experiences at River of Life ChurchI called today my church Sunday; because today I want to share with you thedirection of the church and where I feel God is leading us as a congregation.Our Purpose statementWe exist to glorify God, serve withothers, and invest in our communitywith uncommon love.Uncommon Love
Church doesn’t have to be that complicated does it?
1. The simple church (42-43)Exp: The church really isn’t that complicated is it? So many times in our society wehave constructed our churches into all these institutions and programs andsegments that I think if the early church had seen us now they would laugh. I meancan you just picture the guys who started the early church and how they would seeus nowadays?You see the 1st church was started right after Jesus died and rose again. Jesus hadthese 12 guys from all walks of life, fisherman, businessmen, and more. He gavethem a commission to go and make disciples of all nations. He then told them to waituntil they were baptized in the Holy Spirit and then begin spreading the gospel.(Acts 1:8)They did exactly that. The very same day when the disciples were baptized in theHoly Spirit, they begin to preach and share the gospel. (It was epic) The bible saysthat 3000 people believed what they said and they begin to follow Christ and his
CIS: To explain the goals, dreams, and vision for River of Life ChurchSO: To teach inform and hopefully inspire the church about where God is taking us.MO: Devotional
teachings. (A mere 40 days before that they were crucifying Jesus) Now we have a3000-member church! In one day!That day was the birthday of the church. We still celebrate it to this day. 40 days afterEaster, the day of Pentecost.So getting back to our text, day one! The church in action.(Read 42-43)42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul,and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.Ill: Lets break this down a bit.Day one they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.1.They dug into the word; they studied the Old Testament, and listened towhat the disciples were teaching. The disciples had 3 years experience with the Sonof God. They walked with him, and this is before we had Matt, Mark, Luke, and John. Ican only imagine what those stories were like. (Dramatize)2. They were fellowshipping and breaking bread. The early church new howto party; they knew how to love each other. They actually enjoyed being together,church wasn’t a place they went out of guilt, it wasn’t a place at all, instead it waswho they were, it was their community, built of friends, family, kids, and theapostles.3. The early church prayed; this was probably before there was much music.Although the bible says elsewhere that they did sing. The early church was a churchthat was dedicated to God. They loved worship and prayer, it was central to who theywere, it was the glue that bound them together.App: But the coolest part of this early or my favorite word, primitive church, wasthat God was on the move in them. (Read verse 43)Awe came upon every soul.God was at work within them. God was on the move and everybody knew it. Signsand wonders accompanied the church. There were miracles of grace, and healings,and even later on people being raised from the dead. Things were going down inJerusalem.The best part of this whole thing was that it was incredibly simple, they met, theyworshipped and they studied. There was no secret method or master plan (ExceptGod’s plan) they simply did what was natural, and God blessed them.T/S: We must do that
2. Our Core ValuesExp: River of Life Church exists to glorify God, serve withothers, and invest in our community with uncommon love.We want to demonstrate those biblical principles as a church. We want to look likethe kind of church that Jesus would go to.I honestly ask myself that question if Jesus were to walk into our church would hefeel welcome? Are we are a church that emulates and seeks to look like what thebible calls his church?When we first started this church we prayed and prepared, and planned everythingwe could to make this thing go well. Doing what God has called us to do, and beingwhat God has called us to be.We believe that God has given each of us gifts. Gifts that God uses to edifies thechurch.Ill: Ephesians 4:11-1311 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastorsand teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body ofChrist may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in theknowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the wholemeasure of the fullness of Christ.We want to share the love of Christ in our home community.App: So we came up with 5 biblical values of what the church should look like. We 5principles that a church should seek to emulate. We prayed about it, and sought afterscripture. These 5 things are also tailored to our community. We believe God hascalled us to reach out to our community. We believe that God has placed us on 25south Tremont Street for a reason.Our 5 core values (Expand on each of them)Authentic Experiences: In worship, friendship, and in the word of God.
Overwhelming Generosity and surprising love shown through service andhonor from his people.
Knowing true freedom found only in Christ and develop a life long love forGod and his word.
We value families and believe that God wants to redeem the family andbring them together and model his love through it.
The church is made up of ordinary people and is a community of believerswho worship an extraordinary God together.T/S: It really isn’t meant to be that complicated3. The church in actionExp: Jesus said it best he said when asked what the greatest commandments were,he said love the lord God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, andthe second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.We take that for granted now! Why? Because this golden rule has shaped the waywestern civilization has functioned for thousands of years. But the statement at thetime is so breathtakingly simple and yet so hard for us to practice.Let me dumb it downLove God, first and love people.That my friend is how simple it is to be a follower of Christ.Ill: This church is always going to revolve around Jesus. We want him at every event,we want Jesus lifted up at every gathering, every meal. Every time we pull out theinflatable or watch the Seahawks beat the packers together. (Or vice versa)There was a saying, which many of us have heard. It is what it is. This church is madeup of you. This church is God’s church but it is made of people.Your support, your love, and your prayers are what brings us great joy! You are ourpartners. (Explain Philippian connection)App: The truth is that we all fail. This will never be a church of perfect people.However this will be a church where imperfect people can encounter anextraordinary God together.Here are three ways you can help1. ServeWe are going to give you opportunities to serve others at least once a month. Thiswill range from helping out in Kids church, to volunteering for the food pantry, all
the way to going on a missions trip. We are going to be doing movies in the park, andreaching out with others to build
2. PrayThis church has to be a church that runs on prayer. We cannot function, nor can weever succeed as a church unless we seek the face of God. We absolutely need theunending grace of God in order to do what he has called us to do.3. InvestWe exist to invest in our community. We want to see God, do more than we couldever ask think or imagine. This means giving even when it hurts, it means puttingyour money where your mouth is. This also means more than just giving money itmeans investing your and energy. It means allowing God to bless you far aboveanything you could imagine.Church I cannot wait to see what God is going to do. My prayer is that we won’t be aknockoff church! That we will simply do exactly what God has called us to do.May we bless this community and other communities with uncommon love.
