Don’t Diss The Bride

Roots: An Unstoppable Force in a Deconstructing World

Ephesians 4:1–6 (ESV)

4 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

We are convinced that

The local Church is the HOPE of the community
The local Church is the best means of making the greatest impact on a community
Every family needs a strong healthy church

3 things Paul wants you to know about The Church

#1 The church is me!

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—

Mythbusters Church Edition

Myth # 1: The church is PLACE
The church is not a place, it is a people

Myth #2: The Church is where my needs are met
My needs are met as we meet the needs around us

Myth # 3: The church is optional
I can’t survive outside the body

Paul implies two scriptural truths

Each of us receive a call
My call is connected to the body

“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another“(Romans 12:4–5, ESV).

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:12 ESV).

What we believe

The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven.

Radical Thought: Though we are many, we are at our best when we are one

#2 It Is HIS CHURCH

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

What We Believe

A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord for the fourfold purpose of leading the Church in: Evangelization of the world, worship of God, building the body of saints in the image of His Son, meeting human needs with ministries of love and compassion.

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28, ESV).

What are the four things we do

Aquire

Connect

Train

Send

Radical Thought: When your mission is misaligned with His mission you will find yourself stuck in the myrrh of the mundane. But when your mission is aligned with His you discover the strength of synergic interdependence.

The church re-presents him to the world

What the unchurched say about the church

The Church is Hypocritical
The church is self-absorbed
The Church is Anti-LGBT
The Church is Irrelevant
The Church is too political
TheChurch is Judgmental

Jesus is none of those things

… when we look like us… we fail the world around us

… when we look like him… we heal the world around us

We show people who Jesus is

Why Paul says to do so with…

Humility – we seek to serve not be served

Gentleness – we share the gospel with open hands

Patience – we give people time to get there

Love – we doing it all showing the same sacrificial love Jesus showed us

Unity -we do it together

Radical Thought: Unity doesn’t mean uniformity, it means moving together in harmony