Serving His Purposes - Web

HERE IS THE
CHURCH
HERE IS THE
STEEPLE
RETHINKING CHURCH
“Existing for the World”
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

People created in the image of God . . .
responding in faith to his gracious provision . . .
under his rule . . .
serving his purposes . . .

in transformative relationships with Jesus and others

Check out the WHY DO WE EXIST video on the Teaching
Resources page before continuing.
Video Reflection
1. What stood out in the video?
2. How did the video challenge your own thinking about
the purpose of the church?
3. If an unchurched, non eligious person watched this
video how do you think they would feel about the
church?
We are going to develop the idea introduced at the end of
the video . . .
the church exists for the world

Where It’s All Headed
The following slides are passages from Revelation that
provide a picture of our eternal state . . . they let us know
where everything is headed . . . . how the story ends.
After reading the passage on each slide take some time to

close your eyes and meditate on what you just read.

Revelation 21:22-26; 22:1-5
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord
God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city
does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it,
for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its
lamp.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the
earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will
its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night
there. The glory and honor of the nations will be
brought into it.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of
life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of
God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great
street of the city. On each side of the river stood the
tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its
fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for
the healing of the nations.

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants
will serve him. They will see his face, and his name
will be on their foreheads. There will be no more
night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the
light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.
And they will reign for ever and ever.

If you didn’t know any of the story, what would you think
about this ending?
One of the things that sticks out in these passages is the

“all nations” phrase. It is clear that the eternal state will be
populated with people from every nation. The message of
the kingdom of God is a universal message.
No let’s go to the beginning of the story, to the dark

section.

It’s Come a Long Way
Excerpts from Genesis 3:16-24
I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain

you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your
husband, and he will rule over you. Cursed is the ground
because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the
days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you
return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust
you are and to dust you will return. So the Lord God
banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground
from which he had been taken.

What was your sense as you contrasted these two
sections in Revelation and Genesis?
If we were band new to God’s story, we would probably be

wondering what happened in between. Things looked
extremely bleak in Genesis 3 and yet Revelation 21 sounds
almost to good to be true.
The community of people belonging to God plays a critical

role in the story that unfolds between Genesis 3 and
revelation 21. That is what we are after this morning . . . to
understand the purpose God has for his community in the
middle of the story.

The Story in Between
Let’s take a look at some major developments as the story
in between unfolds.

A Glimmer of Hope
Seed of Promise (Adamic Covenant)
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.

The Beginning of a New Community
A nation from Abraham (Abrahamic Covenant)
Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your
people and your father's household and I will make your
name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

The Beginning of a Dynasty
A royal line from David (Davidic Covenant)
2 Samuel 7:11-16
The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will
establish a house for you: When your days are over and
you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to
succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I
will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a
house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my
son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod
of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will
never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul,
whom I removed from before you. Your house and your
kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be
established forever.
The Arrival of the Promise
A savior from a peasant girl (New Covenant)
Luke 1:26-35
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth,
a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man
named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name
was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you
who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was
greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of
greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be
afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be
with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him
the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of
his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end."

The “For the World” Purpose
In the next few slides we will take a look at the fact that
God’s community has always had a “for the world” aspect
to its purpose.

For the World: OT Community
Genesis 12:3
and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on
earth will be blessed through you.
Exodus 19:5-6
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out
of all nations you will be my treasured possession.
Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the
words you are to speak to the Israelites."

For the World: OT Community
The entire community was intended to serve as a kingdom
of priests to the rest of the nations . . . this is extremely
missional. Israel’s election to be the people of God was
not an election for privilege but for purpose. They were
not to simply enjoy the the position they were to serve
God’s desire to reconcile the world to himself.

For the World: NT Community
Matthew 28:16-20
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain

where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to
them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age."

Purpose of the Church
To live out the virtues and values of God’s
kingdom taught and modeled by Jesus as we
tell his story to others and labor to see them
become his followers.
We develop this purpose statement more fully next week in

part two of “Existing for the World”.

Sow What?
1. Ask some friends what they think the purpose of
the church is.
2. Spend some time thanking God for his incredible
plan to rescue his creation from sin and that his
plan included all people.
3. Ask God to help you have a daily sense that being
part of his kingdom includes making Jesus known
to others by how we live and telling his story.
4. Make a commitment to adopt a view of church that
includes being missional and existing for a lost
world.

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HERE IS THE

“Existing for the World”

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

responding in faith to his gracious provision . . .

under his rule . . .