FOM
Notes
No God At Church
Part 3 of 4 in the series “Vacated”
June 21, 2009 Pastor
WHAT MAKES A REALLY COOL CHURCH?
Atmosphere is (negotiable)
- it is simply a (tool)
Essentials are (non-negotiable)
- without these a church (dies)
BIBLICAL TRUTH
God doesn’t dwell in buildings or
environments, but in the lives of His (people)
“But will God really dwell
on earth? The heavens, even the highest
heaven, cannot contain you. How much
less this temple I have built! Yet give
attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant
is praying in your presence this day.
May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of
which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your
servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of
your people
I Kings 8: 27-30
“Yet you are Holy; you inhabit
the praises of
Psalm 22:3
PRACTICAL TRUTH
All churches have strengths and weaknesses,
but a church that commits to the (essentials) will continue to impact
its (community)
~ Revelation 2-3 ~
6 ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF A HEALTHY
CHURCH
z Shared (vision)
“Where there is no vision,
the people perish.”
Proverbs 29:18a
z Examples of (life change)
“And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and
become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ ”
Matthew 18:3
z Consistent spiritual (growth)
“So he said to the man who
took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for
fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any.
Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ”
Luke 13:7
z Expectation of (genuine) relationships
“This is the message you
heard from the beginning: We should love
one another.”
I John 3:11
z Demonstrated (compassion) for other people
“A man with leprosy came
to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me
clean.’ Filled with compassion, Jesus
reached out his hand and touched the man.
‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be
clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him
and he was cured.”
Mark 1:40-41
z
Enthusiastic (celebration) of who God is and what He is doing
Psalm 145