Team,

This weekend, Pastor Rob will continue with the Changed series on a message about community. Sara and John Claypool will be our hosts along with me as the Digital Pastor.

Here are the details of the service:

Worship Songs

Echo by Elevation Worship
Open the Gates by Vertical Worship
Another in the Fire by Hillsong United
Tremble by Mosiac

Faith in Action (FIA) - Fall Kickoff Jason Harris

Sermon Background:

The importance of community cannot be underestimated in our pursuit of Christlikeness. Community is not just what marks us as God’s people but what makes us into his people. We need other believers not only to challenge and encourage us, but to join us in declaring and experiencing the will of God.

Matthew 18:15-20 is one of only two passages in the gospels that explicitly mentions the church. I believe this is done to show us the very essence of the community that Jesus came to start. The heart of the church is not its buildings or its programs but the power of its relationships. This passage reveals the careful process of helping a fellow believer in spiritual danger. Sin is a reality in all our lives and we often need help to recognize it and turn from it. A help not motivated by judgement, but a desire to restore someone to God’s best for their life. We cannot be what God is calling us to be without this kind of community.

The larger focus of this passage, however, is not on the danger of sin but the power of Christian community. Jesus says to the small group what he earlier had said to the Apostle Peter, namely, you hold the power to help others know and experience the will of God. Binding and loosing are shorthand for listening and not listening to the council of your fellow believers. God has uniquely empowered the members of your small group to play a part in the larger work He is doing in your life.

Finally, the real power for change is revealed as the living presence of Jesus in your community. Yet it is not just any Christian small group that is honored here, but the group that has consciously placed itself in the direction of Jesus. To gather in his name is to recognize and obey his authority. It’s the direction of the group, not its number, that receives Jesus’ promise.

Peter Englert
Adult Ministries Director at Browncroft Community Church

Browncroft Community Church Sunday 10:30 EDT

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