We Believe In The Church (Part 7 in SOF Sermon Series) August 15, 2010 

From the time I became a disciple of Jesus as a 14 year old, I’ve always loved the church and have found in it a 
home and a family. I’ve never lived near extended family. Growing up, all of my extended family lived in either 
New Jersey or Tennessee and we rarely saw them. Now as an adult, my mother lives in North Carolina, my 
father in Florida, and Cyndi’s family all in California. I didn’t grow up with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or 
cousins nearby. So finding a family in the people of my church was not only something new, it was something I 
had longed for. I loved the church for the new family that I had found within it, but I also loved the church for 
the challenge and mission it had called me to live out as a disciple of Jesus. 

The church is the new community of faith, family, and force created by God to be a place to practice the gospel 
of Jesus Christ internally, and call a world dead in its sins to receive the gospel externally. In other words, the 
church is no mere community, or institution - it is a living, breathing, organism made up of people and not 
buildings, whose primary purpose is to preach the gospel to one another and the world. This is precisely the 
mystery Paul speaks of in the passage we read this morning. Ephesians 3:10, “His intent was that now, through 
the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly 
realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”. 

The prime directive, the singular focus of the true church of Jesus Christ is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 
church is at its best and is fulfilling the Great Commission when it is calling individuals to embrace the gospel, 
growing in community as disciples of Jesus Christ, and going out into the world to make an impact through 
service. 

This morning we’re looking at the 7th article of our statement of faith - the Church. Our statement of faith helps 
us to ask and answer four questions about the church: 

1. What comprises the true church? (What is the church made of?) - Ephesians 3:4-12 
2. What unites the true church? (What brings us commonality as a family?) - Ephesians 4:3-6 
3. What manifests the true church in the world? (How is the church visibly seen by those not a part of it?) -
Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25 
4. What does the true church celebrate? (What did Christ give us to remind us of the gospel?) - Matthew 
28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 
As we’ve been saying throughout this series on the statement of faith, our statement of faith is meaningless if 
what it proclaims we believe is not substantiated from the Bible itself. So if you haven’t gotten your Bible out 
yet, please do so now as we look at our statement of faith from the evangelical free church and test if what it 
states about the church is supported by the Bible’s teaching. 

Let’s begin by looking at Question 1: What comprises the church? Our statement of faith answers this by 
stating, “We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith 
alone in Christ alone.” 

Many of you may remember the children’s rhyme: This is the church and this is the steeple, open the doors and 
see all the people. When we speak of the church, we need to remember that the church is not a building. Of 
course we refer to this building and other buildings in which Christians gather for worship as churches, but 
buildings are not the church. 


The church is people. But not just any people, specifically the church, and as the statement of faith words it, the 
true church is made up only of those who have believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, who have embraced that gift 
of God’s grace offered freely to all who trust in Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. People who have done 
that are the true church. Attendance in a church building does not make one a part of God’s church. To be a part 
of God’s church, to be known as God’s people, to be a part of the true church only come by embracing the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. 

So, does the Bible teach this? Again as we read a moment ago in Eph. 3. Paul is speaking about the new 
community of people, Jews and Gentiles together, whom God is creating to be his new people, bound together 
through faith in Christ. In Ephesians 3:7 Paul says, “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace 
given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was 
given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make plain to everyone the 
administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. His intent 
was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and 
authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” 

The true church is comprised of all persons who have believed in and trusted the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ 
for their salvation. So we answer question 1, what comprises the true church? - Those who believe and trust the 
gospel. I ask you, are you a part of the true church? Have you believed the gospel yourself and trusted Jesus 
Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? I’m really glad you’re all attending church this morning, but I deeply 
desire if you haven’t trusted Jesus Christ for salvation, if you haven’t believed the gospel that you would do so 
today and move from being in the church to being a part of the true church of God. 

The second question our statement of faith answers is, What unites the Church? The statement of faith says, 
“They [the true Church] are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He [Jesus Christ] is the 
Head”. 

Again the primary reason for the church is for the true church to proclaim the gospel to the world. And the Bible 
speaks over and over of there being one gospel, one Lord of the Church, one faith that we are to proclaim, and 
that the Holy Spirit is at work within the true church, within disciples of Jesus Christ uniting them together so 
that they will be a unified force in the world. Again, does the scripture teach this? Turn over to Ephesians 4:3 
which says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and 
one Spirit— just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one 
God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. 

As we learned about the Holy Spirit last week, the Holy Spirit is at work in a person who has believed the 
gospel, trusting Jesus Christ as savior and Lord. These people are being fashioned into a living, breathing, active 
community that tangibly and physically demonstrates to those within the church the unity of Christ, and is to 
also demonstrate this unity to the world around them as a means of drawing the world to the gospel. 

As one commentator on this passage says, “the unity and reconciliation that have been won through Christ’s 
death are part and parcel of God’s intention of bringing all things together into unity in Christ. Since the church 
has been designed by God to be the masterpiece of his goodness and the pattern on which the reconciled 
universe of the future will be modeled, believers are expected to live in a manner consistent with this divine 
purpose. To keep this unity must mean to maintain it visibly. If the unity of the Spirit is real, it must be 
transparently evident, and believers have a responsibility before God to make sure that this is so. To live in a 


manner which mars the unity of the Spirit is to do [harm] to the gracious reconciling work of Christ. It is 
tantamount to saying that his sacrificial death by which relationships with God and others have been restored, 
along with the resulting freedom of access to the Father, are of no real consequence to us!” - (Peter O’Brien) 

In other words, when we who are the true church, fail to live out and demonstrate to one another the same grace, 
mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love that has been demonstrated to us through Jesus Christ, our words 
may say Jesus is Lord, but our actions demonstrate we are still trying to be the lord of life. How sad it is when 
the church’s witness to the world is that the church eats its own. The church, the true church is to be a beacon 
drawing those in the darkness to the light of God’s mercy and grace. But we cast shadows that may keep people 
away when we fail to live out among our brothers and sisters in the true church the unity of purpose and work 
that the Holy Spirit is trying to work with us. The Holy Spirt unifies the true church under Christ, and we must 
live this reality as God’s church in this world. 

Which leads us to the third question we are going to look at this morning, which is -What demonstrates or 
what manifests the church in the world? Our statement of faith answers, “The true church is manifest in local 
churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. 

Does the Bible also say this? Turn to Acts 2. Following Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, 
those who were listening to him asked how they could respond, and Peter answers in verse 38, “Repent and be 
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of you sins. And you will receive the 
gist of the Holy Spirit.” 

A few verse later, Luke comments, “They [those who as the true church had responded to the gospel Peter had 
proclaimed] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to 
prayer.” Verse 46, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their 
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” 

In these verses we see that from the beginning of the church, the people gathered together to worship, care for 
one another, and be together. The new community, the new people, the new family that God had created in 
Christ and was uniting together through the Holy Spirit, made themselves known or were manifested in local 
gatherings. 

The statement of faith speaks not only of the local manifestation of gathering of believes, but also that these 
gatherings have a membership. I believe membership in the church is a biblical principal and value. Folks, 
church membership is so much more than being able to vote in a congregational meeting. I don’t have time to 
develop this in more depth but let me give you two reasons I believe church membership is a biblical principal 
and value. 1. Church membership signifies a church’s corporate endorsement of a person’s salvation. For 
example, when I stood up with the 13 people that we presented for church membership last week, as your pastor 
and as an elder of Grace Church I was affirming the profession of faith in Jesus Christ that each of those people 
made. And your acceptance of them into membership at Grace was also affirming their stated commitment to 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

A second reason for church membership, is that it clearly and tangibly signifies an individual commitment to 
grasp hold of one another in mutual love and discipleship. In other words, it’s a stake in the ground that says, 
“I’m here to do this with you. Will you also stand with me?” It’s making it absolutely clear that I got your back 
and you’ve got mine. 


Again, if you are here today and have not believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, come and talk to us after the 
service, we would love the opportunity to speak to you about being a part of the true church. But if you have 
professed faith in Christ, and are a regular attender here at Grace, but have not taken the step of membership -
may I be so bold, why not? What’s keeping you from standing before this local manifestation of the church and 
stating unequivocally - I got your back. I hope you’ll resolve to go to the next membership orientation and take 
that step in your life. 

The final question our statement of faith asks is, What does the true church celebrate? The statement of faith 
says, “The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly 
express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, 
these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.” 

Again we must ask, is this found in scripture? I think the clearest teaching from Jesus himself instituting the 
mandate of believers to seek baptism is found in the Great Commission of Matthew 28, “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.” Clearly baptism was not an option in Jesus’ mind. 

The clearest example of the mandate of the true church to regularly celebrate the Lord’s Supper is found in 1 
Corinthians 11:23. After condemning the Corinthians bastardizing of the Lord’s Supper, he corrects their 
practice of Communion by saying, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, 
on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, 
which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This 
cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you 
eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” 

As these two ordinances are important and precious acts of the true church, they do not themselves bring one 
salvation, they are not able to save from sin. They are acts meant for those who have already embraced the 
gospel and trusted Christ by faith. Baptism and Communion do not bring salvation. But, as the statement of 
faith says, for the believer they do impart some form of God’s grace to us and visibly and tangibly express the 
gospel. 

When we preach the gospel we hear the gospel through the ear. When we celebrate baptism and communion we 
see the gospel through the eye, through touch, and through taste. Both of them depict for us through the eye the 
death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are tangible in that they are substantive; in baptism 
the water surrounds us being buried into Christ’s death, and the water breaks as we come out into new life. We 
hold a piece of bread and eat it and the same goes with the juice. Symbols with no inherent power in 
themselves, but symbols and celebrations that as they are seen and experienced in genuine faith by the true 
church, do indeed confirm the gospel in a believers heart and nourish the believers soul. 

What comprises the true church? All human beings, past, present, and future who have responded to the gospel 
of Jesus Christ by faith. What unites the true church? The Holy Spirit/ What manifests the true church in the 
world? The local body of believers/ What does the true church celebrate? The mandated ordinances of baptism 
and the Lord’s Supper. 

Our statement of faith is succinct in stating these biblical truths. I hope we will examine ourselves in light of 
them, and seek ourselves to not only go to church but to BE the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ.