Pastor James Sharp leads us through the next sermon in our series on The Apostles' Creed - 'I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.'
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REVELATION 7:9-10
The holy catholic Church is…
- One church, not many churches
- Diverse
- Holy
- Spiritual and invisible
ACTS 2:42-47
The communion of saints is…
- Apostolic
- Faithful in observing the ordinances
- Characterized by a thick relational commitment
“Ideally the church itself is not made up of natural ‘friends.’ It is made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything of the sort. Christians come together, not because they form a natural collocation, but because they have been saved by Jesus Christ and owe him a common allegiance. In the light of this common allegiance, in light of the fact that they have all been loved by Jesus himself, they commit themselves to doing what he says—and he commands them to love one another. In this light, they are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus’ sake.” - D.A. Carson
“The creation of the world seems to have been especially for this end, that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse, towards whom he might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature, and to whom he might, as it were, pour forth all that immense fountain of…love and grace that was in his heart, and that in this way God might be glorified.” - Jonathan Edwards
Communion Reflection Questions:
How have you failed to love Christ truly by failing to love Christ’s Bride truly?
Who have you failed to love, to serve, to submit to, to pray for, to prefer, in your local church?
How have you failed to love your local church as Jesus himself does?
Life Church exists to glorify God by making disciples who treasure Christ, grow together, and live on mission. Salisbury, NC
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