South City Baptist Church : Tauranga the church 3 28.07.13 Prayer Stephen Pre service Music 9.55 – 09.59 Allan Welcome 10.00-10.03 Debbie

Praise. 10.04-10.12 Debbie and Allan The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her lord (c) four verses Bless the lord 10 000 reasons (d)

Communion 10.13 – 10.20 Shane It’s your blood that cleanses me (C)

Notices and Birthdays Alpha Promo 10.21-10.26 Stephen Ramadan Video ? 10.27-10.31 Stephen Worship ‘ 10.32-10.45 Debbie and Allan There is a river that flows from God above (F) There’s a river of life (f) A wonderful saviour is Jesus my Lord (He hideth my soul) C 4 verses His name is wonderful (F)

Sermon 10.46 --11.16 Stephen

 Response 11.17-11.22 All Just as I am (C) 11.23—11.28 Debbie and Allan

Benediction 11.29 -11.30 Stephen Come set your rule and reign (Build your kingdom Debbie and allan here

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WORSHIP LEADER Debbie MUSICIAN Allan G Alan M SINGERS ken Lomot Nakeisha VISUAL Bruce C SOUND Winston ASST SOUND Mark CHILDREN’S CHURCH Barbara B SONSHINE CNR Sue N BUILDING SIGNOFF Trevor

South City Baptist Church Tauranga 28.07.13

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 1 Church beliefs no 3

Aim To Promote the family of Christ and our belonging to it.

Introduction All of us want to belong. Most people love family and groups especially at a time of adversity. In New Zealand around the time of the two world wars many families lost husbands and sons at war. The result was that country halls sprung up all over New Zealand because people wanted to congregate and somehow quell their loss by getting together with family and friends in a social setting. Many of those halls now have fallen into disrepair or have very infrequent use because people have passed that crisis time and have found other ways to create relationships. Many clubs in NZ are diminishing partly because of work hour commitments but clubs be they service clubs, interest groups and sports clubs have two purposes: one is the club membership in that it is about tennis, rugby, cards or darts, or dancing but they also exist to get people of like interest together because as well as the sport people just like being together. The Christian poet John Donne wrote “No man is an island” and he based this on the concept that “Humans do not thrive when they are isolated from others and in fact many cannot exist without other people.” “That man is a social being that cannot exist without his fellows. No one is self-sufficient and everyone relies on the other for successful survival.” True you get the occasional hermit that shuts himself away from others but by and large God has created us as social animals and we need interaction with others.

A Church is rather like that also. There is the element of worship and praise. The desire to be taught and to strengthen our Christian faith by interaction with others. There is the desire to fill the biblical concept of not forsaking the gathering together but there is also a strong cause to get together for the sake of getting together with those of like mind and belief. The sense of family and common purpose and the opportunity to serve together. God is a trinity and there is a sense that each of the three parts of God is dependent on each other. God loves family and people being together. Psalms 68:4-6 (NIV) 4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds-- his name is the Lord-- and rejoice before him. 5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Psalms 133:1-2 (NIV) 1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.

God is a relational God and He wants to be in relationship with you.

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 2 Come with me to the book of Genesis. Genesis 12:1-4 (NIV) 1 The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2 "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 4 So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

Here is this man Abram, a wealthy farmer. Stock, servants, farm facilities and one day God speaks to him and says “I want you to leave all you have, live in tents and go to an unknown destination. All I promise you in return is that you and your offspring will form a nation which will be called my people.” Now that’s fine if you have a family or the potential for a family but he was seventy five and without children and his wife was unable to conceive. Abram buys into that deal. And you could say why? Why trade all he has for a very uncertain future and the only upside is that you will be “my people”? It seems to me that there was a strong degree of faith and ability to obey God in Abram and underlying that was this strong desire to be “my people”.

Let’s move on now to the book of Ruth Ruth 1:1-5 (NIV) 1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man's name was Elimelech, his wife's name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Elimelech and their two sons leave Israel and go to a foreign land, we assume because of a famine. In Moab the sons marry local girls and then in time (about ten years) the husband and two sons all die leaving mother-in-law and two daughters in law alone in a foreign land. When Naomi decides to go back to her ancestral home she encourages the daughters- in-law to stay find another husband and get on with life in their own country. Orpah does and the other (Ruth) wants to come with her. Naomi pleads with her to stay in her own land but she has that classic reply: Ruth 1:16-18 (NIV) 16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. And God blesses and forms a new family as they settle in Israel

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 3 When we come to the New Testament there is that sense of family again not only the camaraderie amongst Jesus’ disciples, and even a wider group of followers, but Jesus says (as Tim pointed out last week) there was that Jesus (God amongst men) and then he goes on to say John 1:10-14 (NIV) 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus gives this concept that for those who follow him “call on his name and become his followers” they will become the sons and daughters of the living God.

Now I have one brother. He is the son of my father and so we are brothers because we have a common parentage. Now if I am a son of God and you are a son of God there is a common parentage and we are brothers.

We enter that state by personal salvation in Jesus Christ alone (The experience we call being born again) and it brings us into the body of Christ, the Christian church. Our constitution says it this way “We believe in the body of Christ. Personal Salvation by faith in Christ alone (being born again) which brings us into the body of Christ, the Christian church.”

Now in this are we talking about the South City Baptist Church: Tauranga? Well in part, but we are talking wider than that. We are talking about all who call Jesus Lord worldwide. So we are talking about born again believers in our streets and in our suburbs, in our land, in the south pacific and more than that in our world irrespective of colour, race and country. We are talking about belonging to a family of all those who call on the name of Jesus, form the body of Christ which is the church. Not just Baptists but every people group that accept Christ as saviour.

What brings you into that Group? The fact that you have accepted Christ as your saviour and you are born again not of flesh but of the Spirit. The spirit of God enters your life and you cry by the spirit “abba father.”

You son ship is because you have turned your back on the old life and you have started again on the new life. You have crucified the old life and all the things related to it and you are living a new life in Christ and because of this you have united yourself with Jesus and you are a son or daughter of the living God. You are part of that body of Christ that is supposed to work together in unity to fulfill the mission of Christ, to reach the world for Christ the ministry of reconciling people to God.

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 4 How many times have we seen people within a church and across denominations pull each other apart in criticism and gossip when we should be working together? Now realize that not everyone who calls themselves a Christian is in fact a son or daughter of the living God because not everyone who comes to a church and even in some cases whole churches are not living a life which crucifies the old and lives the new.

Now where does believers baptism and the infilling go the Holy Spirit fit into all this? Do I need to be baptized and filled with the spirit to be a member of the body of Christ?

Let’s go back to Genesis. Baptism is an outward sign of the condition of the heart. The outward sign of the faith for the Jew of Abraham’s time was circumcision. When did God promise Abraham that he could be part of God’s family? Genesis 6 When did he actually become part of his family? When he obeyed God Gen 6 When did circumcision come in? Genesis 17 Abraham was a child of God part of God’s family before he had the outward sign of ownership.

Now let’s think about Ruth Historically she was not a Jew. She was a foreigner but she opted for ownership with God’s people when she came back to the land with Naomi. She came back into the land under the covering of Naomi and because of that relationship she became a daughter of that land and that faith. It was not until she actually married Boaz that she became really a Jew.

The disciples accepted Jesus as the saviour. Peter said “you are the Christ the son of the living God” Mark 8:29 (NIV) 29 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

At the time they accepted Jesus as the Christ. They were part of the family of God but it was not till near the end of the gospel account that Jesus placed the holy spirit within them.

John 20:21-23 (NIV) 21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

They were born again but it was not until the day of Pentecost that they actually were baptized in the holy spirit.

Church if you have accepted Christ then you are a son or daughter of the living God. A brother or sister of all believers worldwide, irrespective of race, colour or language.

We are all one in Christ Jesus, Paul said there is no longer bond, and free

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 5 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (NIV) 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Galatians 3:28-29 (NIV) 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Colossians 3:5-11 (NIV) 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

As I boy of about 10 or 12 I was attending a Pentecostal meeting with my family and this big Maori man came up and shook my dad’s hand and said “welcome brother.” Now I knew my dad was born in England and there was no Maori in our family and so I questioned with dad “How come that man that looks so different to you and yet he says he is your brother? My father took the time to explain to me that this was in a Christian sense, not a brother like my uncle was.

Some of you are interested in family trees. Let me tell you about some of my family. I have brothers and sister in China and they have been punished for accepting Christ and many have been put to death for his names sake. They don’t all meet openly like we do, many do not have a whole bible and we really don’t know how many brothers and sisters I have in China. Estimates put it at 160 – 200 million and growing.

I have brothers and sisters in India, again many of them persecuted for Christ and yet we believe there could be 27 million of them and growing fast.

Worldwide I am part of a family or 46 million Baptist and in New Zealand a family of over 1.4 million who say they have a church affiliation to some denomination.

Within the Baptist family of church in New Zealand there are 24,000 members meeting in 240 churches up and down the country. Some 60,000 people say they have a connection with Baptist Churches and each Sunday many of them attend a church service, a home group or some outreach group of the church. They have been doing that since 1851 when Decimus Dolamore pastored the first Baptist church in Nelson. In 1885 the small collection of Baptist Churches of the day formed a missionary society and the following year sent their first missionary to India

South City Baptist Church: Tauranga Beliefs no 3 28.07.13 P a g e | 6 Now why am I telling you this? Because when you accept Jesus you too become part of that family. With Christ as the head and each one relating together. The questions today are. Are you in the family? How do you relate to others in the family?

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