deeper one holy church - april 17

Rediscovering the Good News that We Dare Not Forget!

‘11

129 questions and answers

52 Lord’s Day Readings

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)

The Apostles’ Creed

“I believe . . .”

“The holy catholic (universal) Church, The communion of saints, The forgiveness of sins”

The NT word for “church”

ekklessia

out of to call

a people

called out of lost

humanity BY Jesus, to

live FOR and IN Jesus!

he Church is a called out

people joined in biblical

community –

“A couple of summers

ago, I read through a

whole stack of books

about why the church

is lame.”

“Give me Jesus

but not the

church!”

A Promise

A Picture

A Potential

Matthew 16:18

And I tell you that you are Peter,

and on this rock I will build my

church, and the gates of Hades

will not overcome it.

Matthew 16:16

You are the Christ, the Son of the

living God.

Peter’s testimony affirms both the

WORK and the PERSON of Jesus!

Matthew 28:18-19

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,

Matthew 28:20

and teaching them to obey

everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you

always, to the very end of the

age.”

he Church in China

a people

called out of lost

humanity BY Jesus, to

live FOR and IN Jesus!

he Church is a called out

people joined in biblical

community –

A Promise - “I WILL build My

Church!

A Picture - A Bride

Husbands, love your wives, just as

Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her to make her holy,

cleansing her by the washing with

water through the word, and to

present her to himself as a radiant

church, without stain or wrinkle or

any other blemish, but holy and

blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27

Revelation 19:7

Let us rejoice and be glad and give

him glory! For the wedding of the

Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.

The church, as the Bride is full

of a called out people – a

people broken, twisted, scarred

by sin and in need of healing!

Husbands, love your wives, just as

Christ loved the church and gave

himself up for her to make her holy,

cleansing her by the washing with

water through the word, and to

present her to himself as a radiant

church, without stain or wrinkle

or any other blemish, but holy and

blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27

The Church as the Bride

of Christ …

Beauty in the midst of

brokenness!

A Promise - “I WILL build My

Church!”

A Picture - A Bride (Beauty in

the midst of Brokenness)

A Potential -

Humpty

Dumpty

“The Church and

only the Church, has

been commissioned

by the sovereign Lord

to be His

representative

agency in history.”

“It (the Church) has

been given sole

authority to unlock the

treasures of the

spiritual realm so that

they can be brought

to bear on the

realities of this earth.”

Matthew 16:19a

I will give you the keys of the

kingdom of heaven.

The Amazing POTENTIAL of the

CHURCH . . .

“To unlock the treasures of the

spiritual realm so that they can be

brought to bear on the realities of

this earth.”

A Promise - “I WILL build My

Church!”

A Picture - A Bride (Beauty in

the midst of Brokenness)

A Potential - God wants to use

His Church to apply his spiritual

riches to the world around us!

Rediscovering the Good News

that We Dare Not Forget!

‘11

Next Sunday - The Best is Yet

to Come!

Questions 57-58

Lord’s Day Reading #22