Pastor Mark Mikels
September 17, 2006
“MY COMMITMENT
TO MY CHURCH”
Church Under Construction – Behavioral Phase #7
Intro … Today on this Anniversary Sunday we come to the conclusion of
Phase Two of our personal Church Construction Project – the Behavioral
Phase.
During the past seven weeks, using our Sonlife Covenant as our guide,
we have identified ourselves as “People committed to participating in
Worship and Word”, and as “People committed to functioning as faithful
Stewards of God’s Resources” and as “People committed to maintaining a
credible and positive Witness for Christ in the World” and as “People
committed to serving as responsible Citizens of this great Nation in
which we live” and as “People committed to standing resolutely against
Family and Society Destroying Behaviors.”
These are 24/7/365 types of commitments … they require constant
vigilance and diligence – they define the type of people that Christ
would have us be and the type of character that Christ would have His
Church possess.
Today, on this 12^th Anniversary of Sonlife Community Church we come to
the final commitment contained in our Church Covenant. It’s our
commitment to the Church itself and it reads as follows …
Our Sonlife Covenant …
I will regard this local church and its various ministries as a sacred
priority in my life, granting it preeminence over all institutions and
agencies of secular origin. I will pray for its leaders, submit myself
to its authority and give myself to its ministry as God gives me
strength. I will involve myself lovingly in the lives of my fellow
believers in this church, recognizing that we are all “one body” and
desiring that we all become mature, attaining to the “whole measure of
the fullness of Christ”.
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Peter 2:4-9; 1 Thess. 3:1-2; Heb. 10:25; Heb.
13:17; 1 Corinthians 12:7, 27; Ephesians 4:13; Galatians 6:1; Hebrews
10:24)
Consider with me this morning … Five Key Commitments Characterizing a
Sonlife Church Member:
These are five key things that we (in effect) say that we will do each
year when we sign our “membership agreement” and without these five
things being done, Sonlife Community Church would be a church in name
only – certainly not the place Christ would have it be.
1. I Will Hold My CHURCH In Highest ESTEEM – 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1
Peter 2:4-9
“I will regard this local church and its various ministries as a sacred
priority in my life,
granting it preeminence over all institutions and agencies of secular
origin.”
That’s quite a mouthful … it’s actually a rather old-fashioned
statement. It harks back to the days when the church was much more the
center of community and family life. It arises from an acknowledgement
that there is something precious and unique about a local body of
believers – a group of born-again people who have bound themselves
together as fellow-followers of Jesus Christ. It arises from the
understanding that no “institution of secular origin” – no club, no
fraternal order, no society or fellowship – can or should replace the
church family in the hearts of its members.
It’s a statement that arises from Scriptures like these:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s
Spirit lives in you? God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”
(1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
“As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by
God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built
into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ … But you are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to
God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now
you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you
have received mercy.” (1 Peter: 2:4, 5, 9)
There is no other body of people anywhere on earth that can compare to
the Church of Jesus Christ … it’s a work of God and it’s a work for
God. It stands alone in our admiration and participation. We rejoice
that God has dotted the landscape of this country with thousands upon
thousands of such local assemblies!
For us, this unique local body of believers is Sonlife Community Church
– for the past twelve years it has established its place in the hearts
of its members. We commit ourselves to recognize it as the unique work
of God that it is in the midst of this fallen sinful world.
2. I Will PRAY For Its LEADERS – (2 Thessalonians 3:1-2)
“Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread
rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may
be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.” (2
Thessalonians 3:1-2)
Without the prayer support of its members, church leaders frequently
just “muddle along” … they, like anyone else, can become discouraged
– they can lose perspective – they can wonder if anything worthwhile is
actually getting done – they can come under attack and be tempted to
lose heart. Our covenant recognizes that reality and calls upon us all
to pray for those who provide leadership for this particular church
body. Those prayers are much needed and truly appreciated.
3. I Will SUBMIT Myself To Its AUTHORITY – Hebrews 10:25; Hebrews 13:17
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another–and all the more
as you see the Day approaching.
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over
you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will
be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Simply showing up on time and on the right day shows submission to the
authority of the Church. Here at Sonlife Community Church it also
means being willing to “do church” the way that we “do church” …
worship and cell group.
(Illustration: Just this week a couple that had been in our fellowship
almost from the beginning informed me that they had started attending
somewhere else because they just didn’t feel “connected” … now they
were a couple who absolutely refused to become involved in any cell
group – they attended Sunday morning only … though the years, I have
been actively involved in shepherding them through a serious of
difficult moments – but they had never actually bought into the way
that we “do church” here at Sonlife.
They had never (to use our phrase of the morning) consciously submitted
themselves to our authority – that is, to the way that we do things and
as a result they didn’t experience what so many of this congregation
experience – close personal caring supportive relationships with their
“cell-mates”. I wished them well though it was hard to see them go.
I know that there will be others – I know that when we open our new
building, there will be numerous ones who will come to visit who will
not stay because they will chose not to submit themselves to our way of
“doing church” as a “Cell-Based Church”.
Recognizing that we present a somewhat unique approach to church life
is one of the reasons we have adopted the concept of a “one-year
renewable membership”. Each year, each one of us makes the decision
(among other things as well) whether or not to “submit ourselves to the
authority” that is, to the unique ministry style that characterizes
Sonlife Community Church. It’s a day that will never cease to excite me
and frighten me as Pastor of this Church.
And now having made that commitment to submit to the authority, we then
come to this fourth commitment contained in this portion of the
Covenant …
4. I Will GIVE Myself To Its MINISTRY – 1 Cor. 12:7, 27; Eph. 4:13
This commitment grows out of a recognition that every believer has
something to offer to the rest of the body. Hear these scriptures …
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the
common good. … Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is
a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:7,27)
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be
evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s
people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built
up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
It seems to me that if we read that passage properly, Paul is saying
that the leaders of the church are to prepare the people of the church
for “works of service” and that the first and possibly even primary
focus of those works of service is “the members of the church itself”
… and the end goal is that the entire congregation of believers – all
of them – become fully mature and functional as Children of God and as
Followers of Christ.
To that end every member of the congregation has been given by God
certain “gifts” or “ministries” of the Holy Spirit … and the first
use of these gifts is to bless and build-up the members of the body.
Here at Sonlife Community Church we believe that our Cell Group
Structure provides the environment in which that kind of ministry can
happen or at least be stimulated. In the Cell Group, knowledge of one
another and understanding of one another’s life circumstances is gained
– we get to know one another. And in the Cell Group genuine bonds are
created – we get to care about one another.
And as a result, emotional momentum is built that carries into the
fulfillment of this fifth and final commitment …
5. I Will INVOLVE Myself Lovingly In The LIVES Of Its MEMBERS –
Galatians 6:1-2; Hebrews 10:24; Hebrews 12:15; Hebrews 13:1
“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should
restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of
Christ.” (Gal. 6:1-2)
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of
doing,
but let us encourage one another.” (Heb. 10:24)
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root
grows up.” (Heb. 12:15)
“Keep on loving each other as brothers.” (Heb. 13:1)
People who know each other and who care about each other will just
automatically get involved in each other’s lives!
And with that observation having been made we make the transition next
week into the Third Phase of Our Church Construction Project … the
“Relational Phase” where we will carefully examine the way the Bible
says we are to “One Another one another” that is, get lovingly involved
in one another’s lives.
Final Thot … It’s PEOPLE who make or break the LOCAL
CHURCH. Resolve to be a MAKER not a BREAKER!