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V15ion, Week 2: A Better Church
Intro: Welcome to Freedom Church\u2026 We\u2019re so glad you\u2019re here with us!\xa0
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\nMotion Night Promo \u2013 Table \u2013 3 \xbd weeks away!
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\nIf you\u2019re new with us, we welcome you. \xa0Welcome to a group of imperfect people who have encountered a perfect savior.
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\n\xa0(7 Years as a Church\u2026what a journey!)
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\nIn the bible, numbers have meaning attached to them\u2026 7 is the number of spiritual completion. \xa0
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\nWe believe we have completed a work in the last 7 years\u2026 and are beginning a new season as a church\u2026 a new work of reaching people who have never been reached.
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\nSeries intro: \xa0We started a series last week called \u201cV15ION \u2013 A Better Year\u201d where we are looking at our lives and asking the question: \xa0\u201cHow can we be better?\u201d
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\n(Not perfect, not the best ever\u2026 just better than we have been\u2026 our next step in the journey.)
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\nTransition: \xa0Today\u2026 we are looking at how we can be a \u201cBetter Church\u201d.
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\nWe you hear the word church, what comes to mind?\xa0
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\n(Stain glass windows, huge steeple, the pope, boring, scandal, your childhood?)
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\nThere is no mistaken that the there are all kinds of images and emotions stirred up in people when you talk about church\u2026 a lot of those are negative and usually justifiable.\xa0
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\n2000 years of church history has not done the best job of promoting a healthy view of what Jesus intended the church to be. \xa0
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\n(The institution, crusades, the kkk, protesting, countless scandals\u2026)
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\nTransition: \xa0We all have ideas about what church is or what it should be\u2026 But lets look at God\u2019s plan for\u2026
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\nBefore we can get better as a church, we have to have the right perspective of what the church is.
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\n1.The Church is not a club for the perfect, but a hospital for the broken.
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\nLater, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus\u2019 followers.) \xa0But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, \u201cWhy does he eat with such scum?\u201d When Jesus heard this, he told them, \u201cHealthy people don\u2019t need a doctor\u2014sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.\u201d Mark 2:15-19 (NLT)
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\n2.The Church is not a good idea, but God\u2019s only idea.\xa0
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\n15 Then he asked them, \u201cBut who do you say I am?\u201d Simon Peter answered, \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.\u201d17 Jesus replied, \u201cYou are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means \u2018rock\u2019), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. Matthew 16:15-18 (NLT)
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\nThe local church is the hope of the world.\xa0
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\nThe local church is the vehicle God designed to carry the hope of Jesus to the world! \xa0
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\n3.The Church is not a place, but the church is YOU.\xa0
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\nJesus came and told his disciples, \u201cI have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.\u201d Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT)
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\n\u201cChurch\u201d = Eklessia (CALLED OUT ONES)
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\nThe bride of Christ\u2026\xa0
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\nTransition: \xa0So how do WE as a church get better?
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\n1.We keep the church a priority.
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\n\xa0Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
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\nSeek = intentional searching; seeking in order to find
\nKingdom = dominion; territory
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\nThe way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don\u2019t, the parts we see and the parts we don\u2019t. \xa0If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ\u2019s body\u2014that\u2019s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your \u201cpart\u201d mean anything. 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (MSG)
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\n2.We keep Jesus the main thing.
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\nYou\u2019ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God\u2019s master stroke, I didn\u2019t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did\u2014Jesus crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (MSG)
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\nNext to people who are far from Him, I believe nothing breaks God\u2019s heart like the denominational divide put up by His people.
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\nWe allow ourselves to be divided on things\u2026 that at the end of it all don\u2019t make a difference on where someone spends eternity!
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\nAgain I say, don\u2019t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. 24 A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. 2 timothy 2:23-24 (NLT)
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\nOur goal as a church should be to add value to the world around us... not add discouragement. \xa0
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\n\u201cYou are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. Matthew 5:13 (NLT)
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\nWe are the hope of the world, because we carry the Hope of the world.
\nJesus. Always\u2026 only Jesus.\xa0
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\n3.We keep the un-churched in mind
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\nFor the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.\u201d Luke 19:10 (NLT)
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\nTo get different results, we have to do something different.
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\nThe casualty of a growing church is personal comfort.\xa0
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\nImpressed by their bold belief, Jesus said to the paraplegic, \u201cSon, I forgive your sins.\u201d Mark 2:5 (MSG)
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