The Church Challenge

The Church: God’s Plan for God’s People

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

January 14, 2024

The Church Challenge

If you have your Bibles, I’d like you to turn with me to Matt. 16. This morning we’re starting a series called The Church: God’s Plan for God’s People. Let’s begin in verse 13.

¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell^[ shall not prevail against it.Matt 16:13-18 Let’s pray.

Jesus begins this conversation by asking the disciples, who do people say I am? What’s the word on the street about me? The answer is all over the place: some say Elijah, some say John the Baptist returned from the dead, others say you’re Jeremiah or some other prophet. That’s where the disciples stopped but they could have gone on: some say you’re crazy. Some say you’re a blasphemer. Some say you’re a false prophet. Some say you’re demon-possessed.

Jesus then asks, but who do you say I am? That’s the most important question any of us will ever answer: who do we say Jesus is? I’m not talking about just words. Jesus said many will call him Lord but don’t do what he says and he will send them away from him. But from the heart, who do we say Jesus is? By our lives, who do we say Jesus is?

Peter answers for all the disciples when he says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” Jesus says flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to you Peter, but my Father in heaven. Then Jesus says, your name is Petros and on this petra I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. The church Jesus is building will be built on the testimony of the apostles.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Eph. 2:19-22

Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, the apostles are the foundation, and Jesus is building us together as his church, the house of God.

The church is the only building project Jesus is working on. If we belong to Jesus we belong to the church. There’s no individual plan to get to heaven, there’s only the group plan – the church. Yeah, the church has its problems and flaws and some churches can be really ugly with judgmentalism and scandal and hypocrisy, and in some cases, they may not even be part of the true church but we need to be careful about writing churches off because some of the churches in the NT had a lot of serious problems and sin and scandal and yet Paul didn’t write them off. Churches like the Corinthians, Galatians, and to lesser degrees the church in Philippi and Thessalonica. Paul didn’t say “you’re not even Christians”, he sought to guide and correct them with biblical teaching. No church is perfect – far from it – but that’s the point. Jesus came to save the imperfect, the messy, the sinner. The Bible says we in the church are trophies of His grace.

Jesus died for his church. Through his death and resurrection Jesus became the cornerstone of the church, his temple. As messed up and messy as it is, the Bible says we the church are his bride, his people, his body, his treasure, his possession. If we love Jesus, we love the church. If we are in Christ, we are in the church. If we aren’t in the church, we aren’t in Christ. It’s really that simple.

I’ve titled this message The Church Challenge because I want to start this series by talking about challenge. Jesus connected challenge to the church when he said that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, reminding us that we have an enemy that will challenge us at every step. Sometimes people emphasize the fact that gates aren’t offensive, they’re defensive, as if the church will only be on the offensive but the Bible makes it clear that hell isn’t just on the defensive, it’s on the offensive too. The devil is prowling around like a lion looking to devour souls. Eph. 6 tells us to put on the armor of God and most of that armor, like the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation, protect us from the offensive attacks of the devil.

The church faces challenges today, some from the outside, some from the inside and that can feel discouraging but throughout history God has used challenges to grow His people’s faith. Abraham faced the challenge of the clock ticking as he got older and older and no promised son. Joseph faced the challenges of being sold as a slave and false imprisonment. Moses came up against the challenge of the Red Sea blocking his way. David faced a challenge named Goliath.

What we see in scripture is that we need challenge in our lives. We need challenge to help us grow. We can’t grow without challenge. If you want to develop better habits, get in better shape, or get more done in 2024 you’ll need to challenge yourself to make some changes. No one becomes a master musician by practicing ten minutes a day or qualifies for the Olympics by training a few days a week when they feel like it. We get stronger by challenging our bodies. We get smarter by challenging our minds. Challenge makes us grow! Challenge makes us stronger. Challenge makes us better.

So Heb 10:24 speaks to the church Jesus is building and says: let us consider how to spur (provoke) one another to love and good works. Let us consider how we can challenge one another – that’s what spur or provoke mean – to grow in love and good works. We need each other to obey this verse. It doesn’t say let us consider how to spur ourselves to love and good works. It says spur one another! We can’t one another alone. We need each other to challenge each other! I need to be challenged by you! You need to be challenged by me! We need to be challenged – provoked, spurred – by each other.

Hebrews 10 isn’t describing an obnoxious, in-your-face challenging, it’s encouraging us to love each other enough to give gracious, humble, Bible-centered challenges to love God and others more. Challenge and be challenged to pray bigger prayers and believe God for greater things! Challenge and be challenged to disciple and be discipled more. Challenge and be challenged to love sacrificially and share our faith boldly. Challenge and be challenged to bring glory to God through our lives together as the church. To grow we need to be challenged.

The church’s job is to challenge us to grow and get better and stronger spiritually. Someone might be in amazing shape physically and intellectually and have their skills honed to a fine point, but if they aren’t growing spiritually then their spirit – the most important part of them – will be anemic and weak. When they pray (if they pray) they can’t lift a feather. When a trial comes they have no endurance, no faith. During worship they don’t feel a thing. No love for God, no sense of need for Him, nothing. What’s going on? Two possibilities: they may not be a Christian, have never experienced the new life of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit. To rephrase an old saying, watching a football game doesn’t make you an athlete. We should examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith – our eternal souls depend on it!

But I know that genuine Christians can have seasons where we feel little or nothing, where our prayers become rote and powerless, where our hearts grow dull towards God. In these times, a lot of times, we don’t need comfort as much as we need challenge! Spiritual challenge to help us grow!

I believe God is challenging us spur one another to greater places of love and good works in 2024. It will take all of us – all those who consider Grace Community Church their church – working together, serving together, spurring one another on, to get there. I need you; you need the person sitting next to you, we need each other to get there. The church is the people of God working together to build the church that Jesus is building.

We need a fresh vision and challenge of what the church Jesus is building is meant to be!

• A church that is genuinely growing in its love for one another. Jesus commanded us to love one another. That can be challenging, I know! But it’s what Jesus calls us to do!
• A church that has a servant mindset. Jesus wrapped himself in a towel and washed his disciple’s feet, then said, in the same way you are to serve one another. I’m thankful for all those who serve in this church – thank you! If you haven’t found your place to pitch in yet– let this be the year you find your place! The church can only grow as each part does its work (Eph. 4:16)
• A missionally minded church. Working together to share the gospel, pray for the lost, invite unchurched people to church, and celebrating when someone gets saved because God does!
• A church that is faith-filled and theologically sound. We will be offering various contexts throughout the year to help us grow in practical bible application and theological depth. Sign up for the leadership class on January 20^th at gracecorning.org/leadership-registration.

It won’t be easy, challenge never is. But it’s Jesus’ work and a healthy, thriving church is what our hearts long for. It’s challenging to get there, and challenges can be difficult and even embarrassing at times.

ILL: I recently started swimming laps at the Y again and it reminded me that a couple years ago I shared in a sermon how I had been trying to get better at freestyle swimming but had stopped because I was self-conscience of my swimming form and how every now and again I’d swallow water and come up sputtering and coughing. I shared how I got embarrassed and stopped going. After the service a couple of the Wilbers told me “don’t stop! Keep going!” They challenged me – to not give up. Eventually I went back and got better today swimming freestyle without sucking down half the pool is effortless.

When you try to get better at understanding the Bible or fellowship or witnessing or serving or praying or any spiritual discipline, expect to come up sputtering and choking sometimes. Expect some awkward interactions. Expect to reach out to some people and have it go nowhere. Expect some attempts to serve to fail. Expect some prayers to fall flat. Expect to share something and it doesn’t come out right. Don’t give up – that’s how you grow! Don’t stop reaching out to people, that’s how relationships grow! Don’t stop serving – that’s how we get good at it!

Two challenges: fast something for next 7 days and spend more time praying and reading Bible. Total fast or a Daniel fast where you give up dessert or meat or maybe something not food like TV or constant checking in with the news. Between you and God, no one else. But fasting is a way we can say to God and our flesh I love God more than anything. There is power in fasting and setting aside time tp pray and read the Bible. God hears us louder. We hear God better. Setting time aside to deny ourselves and draw closer to God is a powerful thing.

Second challenge: come out to the prayer meeting on Wednesday – here at 7pm. We normally get between 6-10 people. Let’s double that or more. I know some people’s schedules won’t allow for that, but having your favorite TV show on doesn’t count as a schedule conflict. The church has no power apart from prayer. None.

Church, if we want to see God save people or deliver people or heal or deepen our love for God and one another, it will have to include prayer. The church’s power comes from prayer. If we are prayerless we are powerless. And we need more power from God. This world needs to see a church that isn’t just a meeting we go to if it’s convenient. They need to see a people filled with the power of God’s love. We won’t get that without prayer. God says I will heal the land when My people get serious and seek My face.

The world is drowning around us. I mean that. Marriages are falling apart. People are walking away from the church in record numbers. Suicide numbers are up. Addictions are destroying people. Alcoholism is eating away at families. And people see all this and feel it but don’t see the church as a viable answer.

God is the only answer for all of this, and when we draw near to God in prayer we will see the church grow healthier and stronger and we will have the spiritual strength to jump in in Jesus’ name and rescue people from drowning. I believe God wants to challenge us upward and higher and prayer is an important step to that.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Eph. 3:20-21