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Being the Church

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	Title	Date	Speaker
	The Church as Accountable	Mar 6, 2011	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: 1 Corinthians 5 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: March 6, 2011 The life of a Christian is marked by continual, ongoing repentance and faith. We turn from sin and turn to Christ everyday. But what happens when we don't? What happens when someone who professes to be a Christian fails to repent? What happens when rather that turning from sin and turning to Christ, someone is continually turning from Christ and turning to sin? What is his family, the church, supposed to do? Today we look at the Biblical teaching of church discipline. God loves His children, and like a good dad, disciplines us when we stray. Biblical discipline is never for revenge or condemnation, but for restoration and salvation. By it, God calls wandering hearts home.
	The Church as Followers	Feb 27, 2011	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: Hebrews 13:7,17-18 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: February 27, 2011 How are we to relate to those whom God has called to lead the church, specifically as pastors? Today we consider that God has entrusted authority to pastors to lead Jesus' church. They are not to abdicate or abuse this authority, but to use it to love and serve the people that Jesus has entrusted to their care. As they do, how are we to relate with them? The Scriptures do not call us to worship them as gods or cast them down as garbage. Rather, there is a third way. Today we consider that third way.
	The Church as Leaders	Jan 23, 2011	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:1-13 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: January 23, 2011 Jesus is the leader of the Church. Every organizational chart of every church needs to have Jesus at the top. He is the true Pastor and true Deacon of the Church. The Scriptures credit Jesus with being the One who builds, grows, shepherds, disciplines, and even closes local churches. In His love for the church, Jesus calls, gifts, and qualifies believers to serve under him as leaders in the local church. Today we consider the two Biblical offices of leadership - elders and deacons - what they are and who is to serve in this capacity.
	The Church as United	Jan 16, 2011	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: Philippians 2:1-7 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: January 16, 2011 There was a lot going well in the life of the young church in Philippi. People were coming to faith in Jesus. People were giving generously above and beyond their means in response to the gospel. It was the kind of church that any pastor or church planter would brag about. Yet with all that was right and good and godly, there was a real danger lurking. Disunity threatened to unravel and destroy all the good that God had begun among them. And so, the Apostle pleads with the baby church to stand in the unity that Jesus had achieved and to maintain it by being humble like Jesus. If the Philippian church, or any church, is going to endure, they need to be united.
	The Church as Sufferers	Jan 9, 2011	Gino Curcuruto
Audio Download Scripture: 1 Peter 4:12-19 Speaker: Gino Curcuruto Date: January 9, 2011 How do you respond to suffering? Are you surprised? Angered? Do you find someone to blame? Do you shut down? The Scriptures tell believers that they ought not be surprised by suffering but rather rejoice in it. Believers are to expect suffering as they follow the Suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, and they are to trust that God is working all things out for His glory and their good. Pastor Gino from ReaLife Church teaches us today.
	The Church as Stewards	Dec 12, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1-9 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: December 12, 2010 A famine in Judea had the church planter Paul playing the part of a fundraiser. The Apostle committed to raising funds to help alleviate the suffering of Christian brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. So how would Paul convince the Corinthian Christians to give towards this effort? Would he employ guilt or appeal to their emotions? Neither. Instead, Paul points the Christians of Corinth to the gospel. He calls on them and us to remember the generosity of Jesus, for the gospel will provide the motivation and the marks for true Christian giving.
	The Church as Missionaries	Dec 5, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: December 5, 2010 Every member of Seven Mile Road Church is in full-time ministry. Jesus has entrusted us who have been reconciled to the Father with the ministry and message of reconciliation. It is now through us that God makes His plea with the world that they be reconciled with Him. The Apostle Paul likens Christians to ambassadors, men and women who have be appointed as representatives of the King to deliver His message of peace. Today we consider our identity as missionaries in Jesus' mission.
	The Church as Servants	Nov 28, 2010	Dennis Mathew
Audio Download Scripture: John 13:1-17 Speaker: Dennis Mathew Date: November 28, 2010 Jesus is deservedly known by some impressive titles. King of kings. Lord of lords. Alpha and Omega. Prince of Peace. So then it might surprise you to know that another title given to Jesus is "Servant." It doesn't seem to fit. The title is one that we would resent and recoil from. However, Jesus embraced the title and identity of a servant. Today we consider Jesus, sitting with His disciples for one final meal before His death, wrapping a towel around His waist and bending down to wash their feet. The Savior leaves us an example of what it means to be a Servant. And as the Suffering Servant who served us even unto death, He empowers and enables us to do the same. If we are going to be Jesus' Church, then we need to be servants even as Jesus was.
	The Church as Worshipers	Nov 21, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: Hebrews 12:18-24 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: November 21, 2010 In the course of a lifetime, a Christian will spend countless hours gathered with other Christians for corporate worship. If we're going to invest so much time and energy doing this, it would be wise to consider why we do it. Why do we gather? What is the purpose of corporate worship? Today we'll consider the corporate worship of God's people in the Old Covenant to better understand the corporate worship of God's people in the New Covenant. May God give us eyes to see that He is inviting us to something glorious as we gather for worship.
	The Church as Hearers & Doers	Nov 14, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: James 1:18-25 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: November 14, 2010 Look at yourself in the mirror. Now look away. Do you remember what you look like? Of course you do. How could you not? Well James says that those who hear God’s words and fail to do them are like those who stare at themselves but forget what they look like. And that kind of amnesia can be devastating for your soul. The Bible pleads with us to be a people who are hearers and doers of the voice of God written. If we are going to be the church, we need to be believers who grow in our faith and receive God's Word by doing what it says.
	The Church as Believers	Nov 7, 2010	Siby Varghese
Audio Download Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-8 Speaker: Siby Varghese Date: November 7, 2010 How do you become a member of the Church? After having spent the last few weeks considering the nature of the Church and the Biblical rationale for membership in the local church, today we turn to consider the marks of a church member. We begin at the beginning. Members of the Church are believers. Today we look at what it means to be a believer and what it means to believe the gospel of Jesus.
	Being the church	Oct 31, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:27 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: October 31, 2010 Membership in the universal body of Christ necessitates membership in a local body of Christ. The New Testament assumes that believers will be members of the Church (big "C") by being members of a church (little "c"). The local church is the arena in which a Christian lives out the gospel. While being a member of a church is not what makes you a Christian, it is a necessary consequence of being a Christian. Today we consider Biblical rationale and support for local church membership.
	Body, Brothers, and Building	Oct 24, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-22 Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: October 24, 2010 Would anyone buy a foundation with no home built on top? Or cuddle up with a head that was disconnected from the body? Would adoption work if you chose to have a relationship with dad but not his other children? Of course not. Yet this is precisely how many people relate to Jesus' Church. We'll take a relationship with Jesus, but we'll pass on a relationship with His Church. The Scriptures have no language for Churchless Christianity. Instead, the Bible makes a big deal about the Church. Some have suggested that the New Testament has no less than 96 different metaphors, analogies, and images to describe the Church. Today we consider three of them. When Jesus brought us to God through the Cross, He made us His body, His brothers, and His building.
	Being the Church	Oct 17, 2010	Ajay Thomas
Audio Download Scripture: Various Speaker: Ajay Thomas Date: October 17, 2010 Perhaps you grew up going to church your whole life. Or maybe you’ve never been to one before. Either way, what if church wasn’t a place you went? What if it wasn’t about a religious thing you did once a week? What if it was something different altogether? Today we kick off a new preaching series on Jesus' Church and consider what the church is and why it's important.