Plumb Lines

Worship is about what we do for God, not what the church does for us.

We usually think of church in terms of the music we like, or the style of the preaching, or friendliness of the people. We evaluate church based on how we feel after attending or what we were able to get out of it. It can become very easy for us to think that worship is about the church doing something for us. Don’t mistake the songs and the prayers and the readings and preaching for worship. Those are the vehicles, not the destination -- those are the means we use to worship Him.

We worship God when we recognize His holiness and glorify Him. We worship God when we praise Him and focus all of our attention and love on Him. Worshiping is connecting with God.

We strive for excellence because God deserves our best.

HOW do we strive for excellence?

1) Commit to thinking and doing our best.

"Good enough" isn't good, and it's not enough.

Ecclesiastes 9:10a -- Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might...

2) Make sure everything we do is done to bring glory to God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17 - Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father...

WHY do we strive for excellence?

1) God demands and deserves our best.

Mark 12:30 -- And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Malachi 1:14 -- Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

2) God gave His best for us.

1 Peter 1:18-19 -- knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The local church should have a positive impact on its community.

Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

“Salt” and “light” are elements of change.
In scripture, the church is never described as a group of people who sit comfortably in a beautiful sanctuary. Instead, the church was established to storm the gates of hell, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need, to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel to be a world who rejects truth, and to glorify the Lord by making disciples who are willing to take up their crosses and follow Him.

We Do Church Best in Small Groups

We use the term “small groups” like an umbrella term and there are three kinds of group under that umbrella. We have 1) Sunday morning Bible study, 2) short-term Bible studies and 3) Life groups.

The first two are curriculum driven - their purpose is teaching and discipleship.

The third one is relationship driven - its primary purpose is sharing life together.

We focus on church health, not church growth.

The key to understanding church health is recognizing the church is an organism. The church is the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:27 - Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

The church is literally the physical presence of Christ in today’s world. Christ indwells believers through His Spirit, so believers make up His Body and function as His hands, His feet, His voice.

Numerical growth is one of many signs that we use to determine our church’s health. Numbers make good guides for evaluation, but they are not good goals. Our goal is health.

Fortunately, the Body of Christ is not on its own when it comes to being healthy. The One Who Created the Body gave us a book full of instructions for staying healthy. He gave us His Spirit to embody the Body. He even gave us His Son to be the Head of the Body.

Colossians 1:18 - And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.