MCC Podcasts
Theology Matters - Ecclesia
series called Theology Matters, big words that make a big difference. And if you were here last Sunday morning, a New Year's Day goes in that awesome New Year's Day to get up and go to church, it's pretty sweet. But you heard an introductory sermon about it, you can get that online for our website and download it if you missed it. But I did a little introduction about what this is all about, Theology Matters. It matters, these big words that we kind of go, "I'm not into all the theology, I just want Jesus or whatever." And we're like, "No, you know what, these things matter. They matter because what we believe dictates how we live, don't we believe that to be true?" I mean, we basically live out what it is we believe. So the question is, what do we believe? We should, A, figure it out, B, be reminded of it, take aim at it and live that out to its fullest. Theology matters because the truth about God, that's what theology is. The truth about God will dictate how we live and the way that we experience the things that God has for us and the way that we serve Him. Truth matters because truth sets us free. So we said these are big words that make a big difference, they're big words, but they do matter, they make a big difference, and that's going to be our structure. So we even put this in your bulletin and we're going to have this in every week during our series. And this is where you can take some notes, some of you want to put those in your Bible or whatever and sort of bone up a little bit on this stuff. And the top is big words and our commitment to you is that we're also then going to talk about a big difference, what big difference it makes. It's not going to be just an intellectual oriented conceptual class. We're going to move to, so this is a sermon where God's people want to know so what difference does it make in my life. So we've agreed with management that if we do not get to make a big difference and it doesn't, it's not applicable to your lives, that you can have a refill refund at the door after you leave. So that is our commitment to you guys. So our big word this morning is ecclesiology. Have you heard that word ecclesiology? Ecclesiology. Ecclesiology is the study of the church, ecclesiology is the study of the nature. The nature of the church and the things of the church. What's the church all about is what we're going to ask. Why do we come here? What happens here? What's the nature of what's supposed to be going on? Why are you even in this room? I've actually made that mistake. Yeah, I know, super suave. I've made that mistake of actually that word to come out of my mouth when I've seen somebody at the back of the church coming across a patio or whatever. I've actually actually said to them accidentally, what are you doing here? You know, I'm super warm and welcoming, right? Somebody that I've met in the community or somebody that hasn't been in church in years and I've literally accidentally said, what are you doing here? I know. Welcome. Yeah. So, but what I meant, you know, it was almost more of that deeper idea which is, does this thing make a difference? What are we doing here? You know, and I'm actually a big fan and I have been my whole life. It's sort of been the character, the character of my relationship with God, not coming from his religious family or steeped in all that stuff. If it's real, I'm fully all in and if it's not real and there's not a real significant reason for stuff, then I'm not doing it. Like that's kind of how I've done things and so we're going to ask the question together this morning. What are you doing here? Like, what do we come for? What's this about for us? What's the nature of the church and what difference does it make in our lives? So that's our topic for this morning in ecclesiology and I want to start with the name, the church. I want to look at some of the words, the church, you know, the church, that word is not in our Bibles. It's in our English Bibles, but the Greek word that it comes from, that went to Latin, that went to Middle English, that became church, C-H-U-R-C-H for us. That word's not in our Bible, okay? That word means of the Lord. Well, it is. It's in a form. It's like the table of the Lord when it talks about communion, of the Lord, that's the old Greek word church. But church just means of the Lord and it came to mean in English and through our Christian tradition, it came to mean these houses of the Lord, the house of the Lord, have you heard that phrase? Now that's the word church and that's cool and that's a great word and in our common vernacular, it's super okay for us to use the word church. But that's not the biblical word when we ask, what's the nature of this church? What's the deal with the church? That word is a Greek word called ecclesia. Now you're all going to learn that word this morning so say it with me. Everybody say ecclesia, ecclesia, okay, if you're taking notes E-C-C-L-E-S-I-A, ecclesia or E-K-K if you're really writing down Greek, L-L-E-S-I-A, ecclesia, okay, say it one more time, ecclesia, okay, Tyler can you say ecclesia for me? Because your dad was the one I picked on last hour by the way. So be ready the rest of the hour, okay, bro, because every once in a while I'm going to need you to go. So this Greek word is what, okay, you said it perfectly so next time we do it with confidence, okay? Ready, here we go. Tyler, all right, okay, that's kind of a C-plus, but we'll come back to you. Ecclesia, this word, you want to learn this word, this word's 118 times it's used in our New Testament and almost all of the time it's translated church because that's just our English vernacular for the word. But ecclesia literally means called out ones, echkaleo, echkaleo, the Greek word to call. They're called out, but that's just the etymology of the word. What the word was used as is it was any assembly or gathering of people, it was a very generic everyday word that said this group of people who have assembled themselves are an ecclesia. But think about the etymology of the word, they were called out to something that was inherent in the word itself was that this group of people was called out. So it wasn't just a mass of people, it was a group that had been put together for a reason. So one of the places it's used in our New Testament is a story in Acts, chapter 19 where the disciples were there preaching and all the guys who made the idols that could be used at the worshiped at the temple were got mad because they thought that everybody turned away from their gods, they wouldn't have a business anymore. And so they put together a whole bunch of people, it was like an idol maker union got together this group and they rioted and they protested. And that group in our New Testament is called a ecclesia. It was a group called out of the general population who had a purpose. They were called out for something. It was a group of people who came out of the general group to go forth into something. This is what the meaning of this word was. At the time, the general assembly, the governing civil government in Athens was called the ecclesia. You see, it was called elected people with a purpose. Are you feeling this so far? Are you starting to get this with me? This is what this word is about. And so what happened is the church very early on, they were called the way and then they were called Christians, and we still use at least Christians, and I had a Bible in the 90s called the way, and that was what they were called in very early on. They started then calling themselves the ecclesia because it was this gathering from the general population of a group to be called out for a purpose. You with me on that? And it didn't. I mean, it's kind of cool because the rest of the world was like, oh, we know what that term is, but they had infused it with more meaning and more meaning and more meaning. And in fact, there was some precedent because the Greek, you know how Greek is the Bible, the New Testament language, all that stuff is written in Greek, it was a common language back then, Old Testament is written in Hebrew. When they translated the Old Testament into Greek for those folks, they used one Hebrew phrase that was called the people of God. They started using the word ecclesia in the Greek for that Hebrew word, the people of God. So there was this floating around idea that God's people were a called out assembly for a purpose. Okay. You with me on where the word comes from? So that's the word. So everybody say the word it's ecclesia. That's the word that means church. That's the word that is this called out group of people. That's the name, a called out assembling of God's people. Now, the question is, what's the nature of the church? What's the nature of this thing? So I'm very briefly, because this could be a semester-long seminary class, very briefly, I just want to give you three major focuses of Scripture, okay, and we're going to dig into some of those scriptures as well so get your fingers ready. Number one, the church is about Jesus. Now, I wanted it to be three P's so you could write down the churches about the principle. The church is about the head. The church is about the most important figure in the church. And here's the P's are going to be principle, people, purpose, that's where we're headed. The church is about Jesus. It's the church is about the principle. It's all about Jesus. In fact, the earliest use of the word ecclesia is out of Jesus's mouth, earliest chronologically that is, when he was talking to Peter. Turn with me to Matthew 16, because I'd love to have you see it. Matthew 16 and somebody give me a page number for the Bibles that are in front of you. And there's not enough of you turning pages right now, go lean over, lean over, go, I'm really going to do this. 905 is the page number. There's so many scriptures this morning that I didn't want to go put them all up front, and I want you to be able to see them. Matthew 16, so this is where Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. Certain verse 13, Matthew 16 verse 13, Jesus came to this region, he asked his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, other say Elijah, others say Jeremiah, one of the prophets. But who do you say I am? He asked. Do you say I am? What about you? Verse 16, Simon Peter answers, you are the Christ, you're the Messiah, you're the Son of the living God. Verse 17, Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven." You know you got the right answer when somebody goes, man that came right from God, that is a godly answer, that is good. And I tell you that you are Peter, which means what, anybody know, rock. Peter, that's your name rock and on that rock, I'm going to build my church because that's how they built homes back then, not in the shifting sand, but on a solid foundation, a rock. Your name's rock, and on this rock I'm going to build my, what, no, build my ecclesia. I'm going to build on that rock, I'm going to build my ecclesia. Now we're not going to preach on this text about, wow, Peter, on Peter, on Peter, or on Peter's confession, or on the people like Peter, the apostles, or what was Jesus doing, go study that, look it up, study your Bible, it'd be awesome. But here's the point, Jesus really, really, early on says, yeah, right, thanks, you don't have to jump in every time I pause with that word, but thank you, a lot of the enthusiasm. He says, Jesus says, listen everybody, you think I'm the Messiah, you're right, and I will build my ecclesia, that my people of God who will be called out for me, and for my purposes, and under my authority, and under my reign, with no king but me. This is why it was such a powerful thing for him to say, this is why people started to want to kill him from the beginning of his ministry, because they knew that he was going to gather people around him who would be loyal to him, okay, and the sedition, and all that was going to happen, and chaos was going to ensue. And that's Jesus said it, I'm going to build my church. He said, I will have my ecclesia, my assembled people, called out with my purposes, called out under my authority, it's my church, that's kingdom, messiah, lordship, language. The church is about Jesus, it's his church, friends, we sometimes think, well it's my church, or it's the denominations church, or it's a branch of a church, or it's a building where people show up, or it's a, this is a place where Jesus people gather, where his people, it's about him. One more verse about him, Ephesians chapter 1, dig through your Bibles, I hear four pages rustling, good. Ephesians chapter 1, page number, somebody? 1079, Ephesians chapter 1, oh man, you got to look at this verse, this is so good, Ephesians chapter 1, of the start in verse 18, this is part of Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, Ephesians 1, 18, in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, his incomparably great power for us who believe, I just love this long sentence, this is Paul going, I hope you get the Jesus thing, it's so awesome, and it's this and this and this and this, that power, that great power that he has for us who believe that power is like the working of his mighty strength, verse 20, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him up from the dead, it's raised from the dead kind of strength, come on now, give me an amen, and seated him in his right hand in the heavenly realms, that's the kind of power we have, verse 21, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion in every title that can be given, not only in this age, but also in the age of coming, we're talking about power, that is up there kind of power, he goes, I hope you know all of this stuff, and then verse 22, and God placed as part of this glorious picture in verse 22, and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the what, ecclesia, for the ecclesia, the head over everything for the ecclesia, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way, he is the head of the ecclesia, it is his church, he goes, I'm going to make my people, I'm going to call them forth with a purpose, they're going to be mine, I'm going to be their Lord, they're going to live in obedience to me, they're going to live in this society of my way, of my kingdom, and this text is telling us, and the glory of it is that he is the head, this is lordship, he's the head, and he's the head of that body, and he fills it with his presence, the fullness of him who fills it in every way, come on. So when the body is present, it is about Jesus and his fullness is here, that's why we're here, that's why I come, the church is about Jesus, his assembly of his people, his presence, all we can keep going, we got to move on, the church is about Jesus too, the church is about people, the church is about people, couple of thoughts, it's an assembly, that's the definition of it, it was just this group of people, it's a group of people, it's people that are here, the church is people, and I know this is like, well I know, what are you saying? But it's not a building, it's not a set of programs, it's not an organization, it's not like a mothership that goes through space, and sort of like, and we sort of attach ourselves to it whenever we want, or whatever parts we like, or whatever wherever it kind of scrapes by us, this is, it doesn't exist in and of itself, it's us, you with me on this? It's us, Michael was telling us this week, he said he had a friend who was a Baptist pastor, and when somebody would say, oh you're a pastor, so where's your church, you know, running to him in the grocery store, whatever, you're a pastor, where's your church? He'd go, oh right now, most of them are probably getting off work, and going home, you see what I mean? I mean he didn't go, well it's 195 North Redwood, because that's not the church, the church is the people, I visited Rob Bell's church in Grand Rapids when I was out there for a wedding a couple summers ago, because I wanted to go see this big fatty church that I hear so much about, and I go to this mall where this church existed, it was an old mall that they bought that had been all derelict and fallen apart, and you didn't see signs like a mall, didn't say Westfield Mall, and it didn't say Macy's, and it didn't say, you know, whatever, and there was no cross, and no sign on the church that said Mars Hill Church, there was no sign, anywhere, it was like this big, ugly, dumpy building in a parking lot, and the only reason I knew that it was this church is that they had some dudes invest and they were helping parking going on, otherwise it looked like it was just this empty place, and I've heard him talk about this, and he said people are so frustrated that we don't put a name on our church, or a cross, or a picture, or a whatever, and he goes because I'll never relent, I'll never give up on this point, that's not our church, we are, that's just where we meet, do you hear the difference? The church is about people, it doesn't exist in and of itself, so let me add this thought to it. It's an assembly of people, but friends I want to remind you, it's an assembly of broken people. Now, they're saved, and they're rescued, and they're spirit-filled, and they're joyful, and God's here, and they're loved, but they're broken. It's a fellowship of those who seek God, who are on a pilgrimage, who are often lost, who lose our way, who are imperfect, who are sometimes helpless and anguished, sometimes suffering this side of heaven, sometimes victorious, sometimes back and forth. This is a fellowship of pilgrims that are imperfect and broken, and I tell you that because so then also is the church if it's us. It's a pilgrim church that stumbles to find its way, that is sometimes lost, that is imperfect, that sometimes is helpless, that sometimes is an anguish, and sometimes is suffering, and sometimes this is the church, it isn't other than us. And I tell you that because it helps us adjust our expectations because we think of the church as divine, or spirit, or something that is something other than us. It's not, it's us. So when I come to church with my baggage and my imperfection and my mood swings and you come with those things, and you come with those things, and you come with those things, we get together and think the church is going to be something exactly like God. Well, how is that going? It won't be. You know why I tell you that? I tell you that because people have given up on the church. Friends, there's no such thing as the church. It's us. And if you've been hurt by the church, I'm really sorry that you've been hurt by people, some people that are part of God's gathering, but we get to become who we're supposed to be, but it's just us. It helps us to adjust our expectations. The church is about people and it's us. And where we are is the church, and the church isn't anything more than us. Now, I'm going to say something that's going to contradict that because you know where I'm going, right? And this is sort of a third sub point to this, that the church is about people. Actually in some ways, the church is more than just us. The church, because as we said in that other text, the presence, the fullness of him who fills everything and every way is in this place, because we do have the Holy Spirit, although I, in my brokenness and pilgrimage, have the Holy Spirit, and you and your brokenness and your struggling and lostness have the Holy Spirit, but there's something that happens according to scriptures when we all get together, that the fullness of him who fills everything and every way comes into our midst, isn't that good news? So while it's still just us, there's something mysterious the old theologians and mystics would say, there's something mysterious about the communion of the saints, and we commune with one another and therefore we're connecting with God in a very spiritual way. We have the Holy Spirit, so the fullness of Christ is present and so we strengthen and encourage each other collectively. First Corinthians 12, you read it all about, it's all about spiritual gifts. Now you are the body of Christ, it says, and each one of you is part of it, every single individual is part of the body of Christ, and he has given to the ecclesia gifts. Now let's read another passage about that, it kind of falling up on that because we're already in Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 4, next page over from where you were. So in the ecclesia, God has given gifts, God filled gifts, the little parts of who God is and what he wants to bring to us, we're all a part of the body, we've been given gifts verse Ephesians 4, 11, and it was he who gave some to be apostles and some to be prophets and 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 become mature, attending to the whole measure of what? The fullness of God. When we get together and the gifts that God gives us, the grace that God puts in every single part of us, when we get together then the fullness of God is in our midst. So the church is about people and it's just us people, it doesn't exist apart from our people, but when we're our people we have this fellowship, this coinaniya is the Greek word, we have this communion with one another that is spiritual and links us together because the part of God that he gives you strengthens me and the part of God that he gives me strengthens you and this mystery of growth then happens out of this. This is the ecclesia that we are connected on this faith journey necessarily, it's just what we are and I have to go this far to tell you, you cannot be on the spiritual journey without being connected in the ecclesia, if it's God's gathered called people where because each one of us is a part of it and he graces us with his gifts in here, if that's true then we have to be together to experience the fullness of Christ. Usually when I know somebody who comes to me and says I haven't been walking with God or it's not working for me or I'm struggling spiritually and it's been that way my whole life it is 99% of the time a matter of them not being connected to the ecclesia and so the fullness of Christ is missing in their lives, you hear me? The church is about people, God's people, us and God being with us, we can't survive unattached, here's the interesting thing, we've backed off on that message a little bit in evangelicalism over the last 25, 30, 40, 50 years and do you know why? Because with the rise of cults it sounded super weird and scary and manipulative and self-serving to say you got to get connected, you don't get the wisdom of God until you're with the other people of God, you don't have the fullness of Christ until you're with the gathered people of Christ, you got to be here and you got to be connected and people's gifts go, do you hear how our sensitivities and today's modern world kind of goes dude, just and we get all about my personal relationship with Jesus and our religion is personal, right? That's where we go and while that's true because every single one of us individually must deal with the question of whether or not we've given our lives to the service of Jesus. Every one of us is accountable to that personal decision, this is not a personal relationship with Jesus, never has been, never will be, it is the ecclesia, it is God's gathered people where God's fullness is present when his people are gathered. So you got to be gathered and so when you run into folks who go, yeah, I'm not really part of church, I don't really go to church and I do my own religious thing, I go, and you're missing the fullness of Christ. That's what the Bible teaches and we backed off on that because it makes it sound like you have to be here in legalism and manipulation and all that kind of stuff and you know, oh well, you got to be here. Church is about Jesus, the church is about people, third, the church is about purpose. The church is about purpose, read this text from the Ephesians 3, we're still in Ephesians, look back a few verses, start in verse 7 of Ephesians 3. The church is about purpose, verse 7, here's Paul, I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me, oh there's the gifting thing, through the working of his power, verse 8, although I'm less than the least of all God's people, the grace was given to me, it's a very cool way to say, I'm such a loser, I was killing Christians before, like I so didn't get it and now God's using me, hello anybody got a story similar to that, I can't believe God's using me, come on now, what a joke, it's awesome. This grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles, meaning to the non-Jewish people, so the rest of the world, I'm going to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, I mean it's so rich, this Jesus thing, I can't even begin to get it all in, he says. Verse 9, "And to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery," now hang on, listen to me, "to make plain to everyone the administration of this ministry," this was Paul's, this was Paul's call to ministry, "that he would make plain the administration of this mystery," what does that mean? It was a way of speaking about this mystery of how could we have a relationship with God himself, how was God going to save the world? And he calls it this mystery because it's a mysterious reality, it's also the answer to it was kept hidden in God for ages. The world waited and long for the Savior to be revealed, that's the story of creation and the prophets and the nation of Israel and Jesus coming through a virgin and coming and preaching and being born, this is the story of salvation, it was a mystery, the mystery of God, you'll see the word mystery all through Paul's teaching and that's what it's about. He goes, now I was given this ministry to make plain to everyone how this ministry was going to come about which for ages was kept hidden in God who created all things, now look at verse 10 with me, his intent, God, his intent, that now through what? The ecclesia, his intent, this mystery has been hidden in ages, the creation longs for the Savior, God's intent was that now through the ecclesia the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to all of the universe. Through the church the good news of God's salvation finally being clear to the entire world forever and ever, that good news was given to the ecclesia to make clear, is that not it? The church is about God's redemptive purpose in the world, friends, he has chosen to do that redemptive work largely through his ecclesia, it's on us, it's on our church. How does God come to the world with his message of love and saving grace and rescuing, how does he do that? We know some of us have stories that we wake up in the middle of the night and Jesus appears to us in a dream and I believe all that stuff, but most of the time largely what's going on is that he's accomplishing his redemptive purposes in the world through his ecclesia, through his gathered people who are called forth as a group of his people to do his purposes. That's what we do. We talk about being missional, when we talk about loving our neighbors, when we talk about loving people, as we love Jesus, it is because the redemptive ministry of God, the manifold wisdom of how God wants to save people has now come through the ecclesia to the world. It's on us. What an awful plan, what was he thinking, right? But that's what he's done because he's called us, he says you're God's household, right? This verse down go look at it later, 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, he said you're God's household, the household of the living God and you are the pillar and foundation of the truth. The good news of Jesus, we hold it and we share it. The church is about purpose, his purpose, it's in our name, we're the called out ones to be his people. That's the big word, ecclesia, this is the nature of the church, there's so much more about the church. You think about some of the metaphors of the church, the bride of Christ, the family of God, the body of Christ. There's a lot about our church, about that church. We don't even go into the fact that we've got the church can mean big seed church, I mean like the whole world church, every Christian and every denomination, in every shack, in every temple, steeple place in England and everywhere and every Sunday, all over the world, that's the church. And then you at 1045 at Marin Covenant and San Rafael is the church, it's both and, there's a lot about the church but we want to ask so what's the big difference then? If this is the big word and this is a very basic understanding of the nature of the church, what's the big difference? You ready? Finish this together. If the church is about Jesus, then we're called to worship. If the church is about Jesus then we're called to worship. That's a big difference that it makes in our life. If the church is about Jesus, the Lord and the Savior and the Messiah, and then we're called to a love and devotion and a recognition of our mighty God who crazy saved us, who has unsearchable riches in this gospel, we're called to respond to him in a life of worship. That's one of the differences that it makes in our lives. If it's about Jesus and he's the head, then I'm a worshipper at its core. I mean friends, you could never serve Jesus your whole life, you never have any opportunity, you could, but if you missed being a worshipper of understanding the value of who he is and what he has done, then you miss it all. He is our Lord and we're worshippers. When you see that passage in Ephesians that we just read all those amazing good things, then you see other phrases in here, verse 14, for this reason I kneel before the Father. I mean, that's a worship word, right? It's like this is unsearchable riches of Christ, so I get down on my face before God at the end of that passage, verse 21 of chapter 3, to him be glory in the church. We come and we go, we're giving you the glory that you deserve. This is your glory. This is who you are. This is what you're worth. This is your value to me, and we as underneath the head of our ecclesia recognize all that he's done, we are first and foremost worshippers. We respond to his value and to who he really is. This is what we do, glory to him in the church, glory to God for who he is. You look, look with me in Revelation real quick, Revelation, it's the last book in the Bible. Have you been in Revelation lately? Okay, if you haven't turned any other passages, hold on. Put your seatbelt on and turn to Revelation chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4 is a picture of what's going on in heaven, a whole bunch of symbolic stuff going on here, and if you're intimidated by Revelation, just look out, this is just going to knock your socks off. But it's a picture of the worship that happens in heaven basically, because what's happening is there is a clear view of who he is and a clear view of the power of his creative abilities, a clear view of his salvation, a clear view of all of it, and they go crazy in worship. Well, I'm going to skip through real fast. If you've got it open, go with me, chapter 4, look at verse 1. So here's the vision that John has. After this I looked and there before me was the door standing open in heaven, and the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, I'm going to show you something." Come on, I want to hear that voice. I want to show you something. Verse 2, "Once I was in the spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it," I'll tell you that, someone is, "that's the Lord of the Ekklesia." And the one who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and Carnelian, a rainbow resembling an emerald, okay, encircled the throne, encircled the throne. Now look at the words encircled, "And surrounding the throne were 24 other thrones and seated on them were 24 elders." And there's a lot of pictures in here. There's pictures of at the center was the head. This is about Jesus. And everybody was around him, but look what was around him was 24 thrones. You know what the 24 thrones represent, 12 Old Testament saints, 12 New Testament saints. What it means is all of you who are His people, the gathered people of God, the true believers, Old New Testament, all you people of His, you're gathered people, okay? So this is us. Watch carefully what happens to the 24 because that's me and you. They're dressed in white, crowns of gold on their heads. Remember, you heard you were going to get a crown, although they are. But from the throne comes flashes of lightning, rumblings, peels of thunder. Before the thrones, seven lamps were blazing. This is the sevenfold spirit of God, okay, hard stuff. In the center around the throne, this paragraph, we're four living creatures. These creatures, they represented all of creation, basically is the short version of this. They're the ones saying, "Holy, holy, holy." Verse 9, "Whenever the living creatures who give glory, honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever," that's the name they were using for Jesus. Him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. Verse 10, "The 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne." They're worshipers. When they know who God is, they're worshipers. This is Jesus's church, we become worshipers. And they worship Him who lives forever and ever. And they lay their crowns before the throne. Do you see that picture? They lay their crowns before the throne. The crowns you get for living a faithful, obedient life and serving God. The crowns you get is a reward. The elders who in the end go, "Oh, man, you know what, you're worthy of my crown. I'm taking my crown off. I'm going to put it at the feet of the one who saved me. Come on. You are worthy, our Lord and God, receive glory, honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and they have their being. And then I saw on the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll. Now I'm just going to zoom through. I'll tell you what this is. Now is a picture of the salvation. On this scroll is a contract. It's the new covenant with God. It's the new agreement of the grace of God exhibited through Jesus. It's the salvation of all people. It's the mystery of God kept hidden for ages. And the picture in heaven is that there was this throne and everybody in heaven is made whoo. I mean, sorry. There's this scroll. And everybody in heaven is saying, "Who can open this? Who can open this? Who's worthy to open this?" There's nobody worthy to enter into this relationship with God to open up this new covenant of grace and love. Nobody can accomplish it, right? And so they wept and they wept because no one was found worthy to open this scroll. Verse 5, "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep for the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and it's seven seals.' And I looked and saw a lamb and it looked as if it had been slain, sacrificed. And it was standing in the center. It is about Jesus, my friends, encircled by the creatures and the 24 elders. That's us." He had seven horns and seven eyes and such a go on. And verse 8, "When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb." Verse 9, "And they sang a new song, 'You're worthy to take the scroll and open it seals because you were slain. And with your blood you bought us. You purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You've made them to be your people, your kingdom and priests, your ecclesia to serve our God. They sang in the earth. And when they saw the clarity that the lamb could open the scroll and bring salvation to the whole world." Verse 11, "I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000 and they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice they sang, 'Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. And then it ambs up. And then I heard every creature in heaven on earth and under the earth and on the sea. And all that is in them singing to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, be praised and honor and glory and power forever and ever. And the four living creature said, 'Amen and the elders fell down and worshiped. When we see who he is and that he is our Lord and our Savior and our Master, we are people who worship. And the question is, friends, if you are part of the ecclesia, do you worship or do you go to church? Because they are entirely different things. And that will make the most fundamental difference about how you live, that you are one who says I see the value of who you are and what you have done. And I will bow down before you and give you every ounce of my will and my heart and my obedience. You are everything to me, everything to me. Now church is about Jesus and so we are called to worship and that is a big deal. Will you come focused on who he is and what he has done? Will you steep in the word of God so you understand the salvation that he has brought and the beauty that he is? Will you come ready to confess that he is the greatest thing in value and everything else that grabs ahold of your heart are false idols and worth nothing compared to him? Are you ready to be that kind of an ecclesia gathered people? Then we worship. That is a big difference. That is a big deal. And I am out of time. Here is the other two. The church is about Jesus so I am called to worship. The church is about people so I am called to fellowship. You know what fellowship means? It means you are connected. The body of Christ is like the family of God. You know what happens with your family, you can't pick them, you are stuck with them. And so you take responsibility for them and you get connected, right? The church is a fellowship so we are called to connect with one another. Are you connected to the body of Christ enough that it matters? It matters. If the answer is no, then you call one of the pastors this week. You get in touch with somebody you know that is in a small group. You show up at Sunday school next week, you start getting connected. The church is about us connected and the fullness of Jesus is in our connections and we get connected. And third, the church is about purpose so I am called to stewardship. That is a good word. Stewardship. Think this. Think this word when we talk about stewardship. Think obedient and responsible for my part. That is what stewardship means. If we are about God's purposes in this world, his redemptive ministry, stewardship is what is my part, I am all in. Responsible, obedient for my part. When we see the word stewardship, we often think of music, I am sorry, money. And the answer to that is yes. Because God is so committed to this plan by the way that is using us and his redemptive purposes in the world that it even takes our money to accomplish them. What a stupid idea. So what is my part? But it is not just money, it is gifts and it is calling because where he has put you and who he has made you is your part in his redemptive purpose through our gathered body and out. If the church is about purpose, then I am called to stewardship. What is my part? I am a worshiper, I am connected and I am responsible. Michael do you want to come or do you want to just let's, no let's not. I am sorry. If you want the shorter version, get the first service, CD, okay. Why don't you stand. I am going to give you this blessing. The word is a big deal friends, it is a big word, ecclesiology. It is a big word because it is a big deal where God has gathered people sent out for God's purposes. So receive this blessing. If it is true, then it is going to set us free. And the truth is the church is about Jesus, so be free to worship him for he is worthy of it. If it is true that the church is about people, then go and be free to make connections so deep that they matter for you and for them in the body of Christ. If it is true that the church is about God's redemptive purpose, then go today being free to play your part, to do your part in what God wants to do in the world. If it was another sermon, I would say worship, serve, go, grow. May God bless you as you become the ecclesia again today. Go in God's grace and God's peace.