Really, does the church make any difference at all?

Really? Does the church make any difference at all? Let's talk on Key Life.

This is Key Life, with our host, author and seminary professor Steve Brown. He's nobody's

guru. He's just one beggar telling other beggars where he found bread. If you're hungry

for God, the real God behind all the lies, you've come to the right place.

Thank you, Matthew. We're talking about the church. We went down a side road yesterday.

Sorry about that. But I felt like it needed to be said, so I said it. And if it causes

bad things, I'll repent. Sin now, repent later, is the slogan of a lot of Christians. And

it's really not mine. We're talking about the church, two basic texts. Matthew 1820, for

where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And then Ephesians

5, 25 through 27. Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself

up for her, that he might present the church to himself and splendor, without spot or

wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Now we have talked, and if you were listening, I'm going to test you on this material. If

you were listening, we saw what the Bible says about the church. And it clearly teaches

it all over Scripture. It teaches first that the church is people who have been brought close

to God at a great price. Secondly, the Bible teaches the church has not only been brought

to God at the price of the cross. It is a family that has been brought together by the same price.

And then thirdly, we saw that the church is not only a family brought to God to each other at

the price of the cross. The church is a family with an incredible heritage. Once we did that,

then we were open for me to move the previous question. What difference does the church make?

We've seen that the church makes that difference because as a Christian, you are incomplete

without other Christians. You remember the pandemic? When we only worshiped by looking at a

screen and a live stream of some others who were someplace, I hated that. I mean, I did it

because it was something and something's better than nothing, but as a matter of fact,

it wasn't church. And you know why it wasn't church because you weren't there. And because I

weren't there, in fact, the church makes a difference because as a Christian, we're incomplete

without other Christians. And spiritually, we all experience that during the pandemic.

And then secondly, we've seen the church makes a difference because it is only within the

fellowship that a Christian experiences the fullness of God. When Jesus said that if a bunch of

you to get even two or three get together in my name, that would be the church. And then he said,

I am there in the midst of them. There's there's something about church when we're together.

I always laughed and said to the users, count one more. And that would be Jesus because he promised

and he would be here. And then finally, and we haven't talked about this. So let's talk about it.

The church is the instrument by which Christ accomplishes His purposes in the world.

Let me add to that. The church is the instrument by which Christ accomplishes His purposes in the world.

Even with all its problems, all of its spots, all of its wrinkles, all of its sin, all of the

negative that is a part of a human institution. Just as mountain planers scaling a high peak need one

other to accomplish their goal. So the Christian needs other Christians if Christ work is to be done

properly. I can't do it by myself. And you can't do it by yourself. I love young life. It is an

amazing ministry. In fact, when I was in Boston, I was in the first young life

ministry that came to New England, started in my study in a church that I served in the Boston

area. I can close my eyes and remember that night when we got together. We were excited because

we had found the right staff person. We were going to raise the money and we were going to change

the world in young people's lives throughout New England. You know what happened after a year and I

that staff person resigned. And the whole ministry went down the tube. That's true, by the way.

And I went even telling you about it. So what did we do? Well, we decided to try again.

But we did it with some advice for some wise people. When God does something big in the world,

He doesn't do it with one. He does it with a bunch. And so we didn't call one. We call the staff

of people. And the young life ministry in New England is still functioning because we understood

the principle about why the church is important. You can't do this by yourself.

I need you sometimes to tell me, Steve, you done good. I need you to love me enough to say,

Steve, you could have done better. I need you to say, let's go out and do something fun for Jesus.

I need you because you have gifts. I don't have. And I have gifts you don't have to change the world.

And that is a design on purpose by the God of the universe. As with the mountain climbers, I refer to

this not a question of one making it and the other not making it. If they all don't,

none of them will. It's the same thing with the church. It's witnessing and serving and helping

and preaching and loving and caring and changing and inspiring and feeding and clothing and

healing. There is so much to do that only an idiot would even attempt to begin without other.

The church is a body. God's gifts, given in 1 Corinthians 12 and a couple of other places,

were not all poured out on one question. They were distributed above many of us.

What you can't do with God as given you must be done with others whose gifts are different

than yours. That includes almost everything that Jesus has called His people to do.

Now I want to add one final word of caution here. The Christian must be very careful

about the individual church he or she chooses. There's some organizations that are called churches

that really aren't. They're just religious institutions doing religious things and enjoying being

with one another. Nothing wrong with that. But that's not the church. The church is a place

where if it's a real church, Jesus Christ is exalted. In other words, he's the head of the church.

And if they don't exalt him and praise him and worship him, go somewhere else.

And where the Bible is taught as God's reveal propositional truth.

When the teachers in the church begin to add caveats to God's word, change it or say,

this isn't true any longer than go to another place. And the church is a place where people

should be making a major effort to love one another. And if you don't find those things in a church,

then go find the church where those things are present. As I said, there's nothing wrong with a

religious institution, but it's not the church. It's possible for a church to become nothing

more than a gathering place for fun and games. Nothing wrong with that either, but it isn't the

church. It's possible for the church to go so far away from the teaching of the Bible.

And that's okay if you want to do that, but it's not the church. Make sure that it's the real deal

before you sign your name on the bottom line. And then God will use you and your brothers and sisters

to change the world. You think about that. Amen.

Thanks, Steve. That was Steve Brown continuing to show us the difference that the church makes.

Perfect. No, but an important part of how God accomplishes his will in the world. And in case

you missed it, our text today was Matt, you 1820 and Ephesians 5 25 through 27. More tomorrow,

hope you will join us. Well, if you've been a part of the church for any time,

you've experienced both laughter and lament. And whether we like it or not, both of those

things are part of God's plan. Steve spoke about this in a book called laughter and lament.

And if you haven't read it, I have some good news. We took sections of that book and created a

special booklet that we would love to send to you for free. claim your copy right now by calling

us at 1-800-Key-Life. That's 1-800-539-543-3. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to ask

for that booklet or to mail your request, go to keylife.org slash contact to find our mailing

addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for your free copy of the laughter and lament booklet.

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