Together For Glory

God’s Household: Together as One

Ephesians 2:19–22. If you could turn to that for me, that would be phenomenal.

Now, you’ll notice there’s a word here we’re not really going to concentrate on too much just yet. We’re moving forward from that for now; we will go back to it later on. But it’s this little bit I want us to concentrate on this morning:

“You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Amen. What an incredible passage. What an incredible piece of the Bible. It’s just absolutely phenomenal.

There’s a lot in there about being together, and that is a lot of what we’re going to talk about today. It’s going to be a little bit about how we do church together, how we build church together as family. But before we get into that, we’re going to look at a couple of different things.

Resisting Hyper-Individualism Through Community

You’ll have noticed that we are increasingly becoming individualized. Would anybody agree with that? A lot of what we see and hear is about “me, myself and I.” It’s all about those three people. It’s about what I can get, where I can go, what I can be, what I can do.

We start to see ourselves as the king or queen of our own lives. But as Christians, it’s not like that, because we’re bought and paid for. And you were expensive. You were super expensive. It cost somebody their life, right? Let’s put that into context: it cost Jesus His life. You and I were built together for a purpose and put together for a purpose.

We’re not just talking about individualism anymore, but what people call hyper-individualism. That’s a bit of a scary phrase, isn’t it? Hyper-individualism. It’s not a new idea—people were already talking about it back in the 1800s—but it’s definitely visible in our culture now.

What does hyper-individualism look like? Phrases like “me, myself and I,” “you are your own god,” “living my best life,” “my truth,” self-obsession, criticising others to elevate yourself. Lots of “my’s” and “I’s.” That’s exactly it: a self-centred, selfish way of living that’s all about what I can accumulate, the best I can do, and how successful I can become.

But that is not a biblical approach to living. Just imagine if, in one of his letters, Paul had said, “Christ was revealed to me and it was so good I’m going to keep it to myself. I’m great, thanks. I’m a Jew above all Jews. I know everything. I’ve been taught by the best.” Because that’s who Paul was: he was taught by the best, he kept the law, he was a brilliant Jewish man. And then he was transformed by Jesus. Imagine if he’d thought, “Wow, it’s all mine now. I’ll just crack on with my life and not bother with you lot.”

It’s not about that. Biblical living is not about hyper-individualism. It’s not even about individualism. We were built to belong and we were designed for community.

Everyone say, “Built to belong.” Now louder: “Built to belong.” Say it like you mean it. “Designed for community.” That’s what you are. You are built to belong. You are designed for community.

How do we know that? Because we’re called out of the world to live as family with one another. Now don’t worry, we’re not going to go back to Acts and say that if you join our church you’ve got to sell your house and we’ll all live together. It’s not about that. It’s not about creating some kind of cult. But we can still do life together, and we can do it well.

Christian Faith Beyond Mere Membership

But we are not members of an organization. Becoming a Christian doesn't make you a member of an organization.

Recently, Sal and I were on a day out. We had a great time and went to a National Trust place. We love those places because you can just wander around, have a decent coffee, and then feel like you need to remortgage your house to pay for the coffee at the National Trust! But we love it. It’s great.

While we were there, they said, “Why don’t you join the National Trust?” and we thought, “Oh, we’ll join the National Trust.” So we joined. And do you know how many times we’ve been since? Twice. We got caught up in a moment and we joined an organization.

But that is not what church is. That is not what the Christian faith is all about. It’s not about being caught up in a moment. That might happen—when I became a Christian, I was caught in a moment—but I didn’t just get caught up in a moment and then join an organization so that a year later I could say, “Well, I’m not getting anything out of it, so I’m not going to pay anymore.”

If you’ve heard yourself say something like that—and I don’t mean literally paying the church, but thinking, “I’m not getting much out of it”—can I lovingly challenge you this morning: what are you putting in?

A Shared Household of Faith

Only half the room will get this.

We love to go to Liverpool. It’s one of our favourite cities. Our daughter’s there now, she loves Liverpool as well. It’s just an incredible place.

When I was a kid, there was a TV show set in Liverpool that I used to watch. Half of you will know this, and half of you won’t. It was called Bread. Stay with me, we’re not going to take the analogy too far, because all analogies fall over at some point.

Bread was about a family. The reason it comes to mind every time I go to Liverpool is because we drive past one of the streets it was set in: an old terraced street with the Mersey at the bottom. It reminds me every time.

The show followed this family who, every day, went out and did their various things. Nobody knew what Joey did. Nobody even dared ask. It was probably best not to know what Joey did. Aveline was a model – I’m not going to do the accent – though I’ve no idea what she modelled. I can’t remember the names of some of the other characters, but I loved that show. I used to watch it with my grandparents; it was really special.

At the end of the day, they would all come home and sit around the table. They’d sit together and talk about their day. For me, it was a picture of family that I hadn’t really seen before, and I loved that.

Even better, they had this pot on the table in the shape of a chicken. Do you remember that? They’d take the lid off the pot and put in the money they’d earned that day. That money would go to Mum to get the shopping in, ready to cook the meal for the next day. They were going out, doing their thing, and then coming back and serving the family. They weren’t earning just for themselves; they were earning for the household. I’m sure they were pocketing a little bit on the side – especially Joey, because he was really dodgy – but their heart was to serve the family. It’s an incredible picture.

Now, don’t go and look it up. It hasn’t aged well. It’s a terrible show now! I tried to find it, and it’s really not aged well at all. But the premise is amazing: a family who go out and do what they do, and then come back and share.

They share not just their finances – though of course that’s important – but their lives. They share stories, or what we might call testimonies, because we like to add a posh word sometimes. They share about their lives and are deeply involved with one another.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if our church was like that? And I think it is. I think, in many ways, it already is. But it goes even deeper when Jesus is in the equation. We’re not members of an organisation or part of a club; we are part of God’s family.

Humanity as the Pinnacle of God’s Relational Design

Pastor Don mentioned last week that we were made in the image of God. And one of the things we know about God is that God loves relationship.

“How do we know that God loves relationship?” you might ask. Let me show you. It’s in the verse you’ve all heard a billion, trillion times, but it’s still true. John 3. You know where I’m going, right? John 3:16 says this: “For God so loved the world that He…” What did He do? He gave. “He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting, or eternal, life.”

Why would you do that if you’re not into the relationship thing?

If I was God, I’d be looking at all this cool stuff I’d made and probably make a bit more cool stuff. I’d go, “I’m going to show off now—put a new mountain range there, I’m going to do that.” But the hassle of everything else? I’d be like, “No, thanks.” Yet God’s pinnacle of creation isn’t the mountains. God’s pinnacle of creation isn’t the hills. God’s pinnacle of creation isn’t even the solar system. God’s pinnacle of creation is you.

Now, please don’t let your head get too big, because it’s me as well. And the person next to you, and the person behind you, and the person you don’t like. It’s the person who’s doing your head in at the roundabout, because you could have gone five times by now. It’s the person who has 12 items in their basket in the “10 items or less” lane—because I’ve counted them. Move along, please!

But isn’t it amazing that when we look at the world, it’s a stunning place? It’s phenomenal. It’s amazing. Yet the pinnacle of creation is not all of that stuff. The pinnacle of creation is you.

When God created everything, He said, “It’s good. It’s good.” And when He created people, He said, “That is very good.” I want you to remember that when you’re having a down day. I talked the other week about having your “spoon upside down.” Well, flip it. Flip it. You are the very pinnacle of God’s creation.

That’s why He wants a relationship with us—because He created us in His image. And so if God desires relationship and we’re created in His image, I guess that means we need relationship, right?

Romans 8:16–17 says this: “The Spirit Himself…” Now, when we see that, understand: it’s not Father, Son, Holy Spirit in descending order. The Spirit is still God. Remember this: the Spirit is still God. God is three in one. Each person of the Godhead is equally important. So when the Bible says the Spirit is speaking, it is still God speaking. We need to understand that.

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.”

How amazing is that? Isn’t that incredible—that we are so much a part of God’s family that we share in the suffering, but we also share in the glory? What an incredible thought: that God thinks so highly of you that you share not only in the good stuff, but you also share in the pain as well. But that’s all part of family.

Hands up if you are part of a family. Hands up if your family has never experienced any pain. It just doesn’t happen.

Sharpened Together in Christian Community

Being part of God’s family, even in church… can I say this? I hate this phrase: “I’ve been hurt by the church.” You can disagree with me afterwards if you want to, but do it quietly, off the mic!

I hate that phrase, because the Church – big “C” – is the bride of Christ. You may well have been hurt by people in the church. In fact, there’s probably only a small number of people in the room who haven’t been, at some point. Because we’re people, right? Where there are people, there is proximity, and where there is proximity, there is friction.

But there is no such thing as “church hurt,” guys. You’ve been hurt by a person. And if that’s you, I am genuinely sorry that you’ve felt that. We’ve been in a similar position ourselves, and I really am sorry that you’ve experienced that. But please don’t ever let that become an excuse not to be in church, not to be with your fellow believers, not to be encouraging one another, building one another up, being here together.

Please don’t use that as an excuse. Please talk to someone. Please get that stuff dealt with. That is absolutely the right thing to do. But at the end of the day, it’s not the bride of Christ that’s hurting you. It’s a person. And guess what? They’re made in the image of God too. They just make mistakes. They just make mistakes.

We can’t dip in and out of family. You can’t just cancel your subscription. God knows that we need each other. Proverbs 27:17 says this: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Come on, guys, one person! We can’t sharpen one another if you’re not around, and you also can’t be sharpened if you’re not around.

What do you need to be sharpened? You need proximity.

Now, I didn’t bring any props today. I brought all my props last time, so I’ve run out. I’ve got no props today. But imagine I’ve got a knife. And someone will get the movie reference, but: “That’s not a knife… this is a knife.” So I’ve got this great knife, used for cutting steak and all that healthy stuff. It’s great, but it might get blunt over time.

It wouldn’t matter if I brought my knife with me this morning and Dom brought something with him to sharpen the knife, if we remained at a distance. And I’m not talking about physical distance; I’m talking about proximity in relationship. I’ve got the knife – it’s still kind of effective, but it could do with being sharper. Dom’s got what I need to make me sharper. So we need proximity.

Who is it in our church that you need to be in proximity with, that’s going to make you sharper? Because as we move out into our new building and as we try to have an impact on this little old town of Newark, we are all going to have to be a little bit sharper. And I’m preaching to myself as well, just so you know. We are all going to have to be a little bit sharper.

So who is it that you are in proximity with?

Now, be careful. There’s no one here who is exactly like the person I’m going to describe, so I’m not pointing at anyone or looking at anyone – I’ll close my eyes when I say it. Not everything sharpens a blade. Sometimes you come into proximity with something that will dull the blade, or have very little impact at all.

Most of the time, if you’re in proximity with people, they will either dull your blade or sharpen it. So be careful who you are in proximity with.

Humbled Servants in the Mission of God

Now, of course, with proximity sometimes comes friction. We’re going to talk about healthy friction for a moment—not the kind of friction that says, “Well, I don’t like the way we do that, so I’m not going to do it.” We’re not talking about that.

There have been times in my life when I’ve acted like an idiot. Can I just say that? Anyone else ever done that? Yeah, a few of us. Brilliant. My wife’s still denying it—25 years, still denying it.

We’ve all done it. But I’m thankful I’ve got people in my life who will say, “Mr Brompton, you’re being ridiculous. That attitude stinks.” They say it nicer sometimes. If it’s Nick—nah, he doesn’t bother, he’ll just tell you how it is. But I’ve got people in my life who will challenge me, and they’re actually the people who sharpen me. They’re the ones who bring that little bit of friction. They’re the people in my proximity who bring the very thing that sharpens my blade, that makes me sharper.

Why? So we can go out into the town of Newark and do what Jesus needs us to do, so that more people can get to know Him and this place or that place will be filled. Who’s excited about that? I’m really excited about that, because I’m just thankful that God wants to use a plonker like me. That was something my wife did agree with.

I’m genuinely pleased that God wants to use someone like me, because for a long time I didn’t think He did.

Christ the Cornerstone of True Unity

Now I’m going to talk about my favourite subject for a moment: food. Oh, food. Food, food, food. You’re wondering where this is going. Great place. If you’ve not been, you need to get yourself there. Koinonia, anyone? Anybody a fan? I love Koinonia. Brilliant place. Awesome food. South Indian food, Kerala-style, that kind of fish curry and all that. Anyone hungry yet? Baby’s hungry. Probably a bit early for curry, but who knows?

The first time that word “koinonia” is mentioned in the Bible is in Acts 2:42, where it says this:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

They devoted themselves. They devoted themselves to koinonia. Now, I’m not saying we all have to go and join my new subscription service for Koinonia and I’m going to take 10%. No. But they devoted themselves to fellowship. It’s really, really important that we devote ourselves to fellowship. Why? Because it helps us to build unity. You can’t be in unity with something you don’t have anything to do with.

It’s why I don’t really like the term that people often use, way out of context: “respect.” “Well, I respect their view.” Do you, though? There’s a famous DJ I used to listen to called Zane Lowe, and whenever he heard a great band, he’d be praising that band. He’d say, “Oh, the drummer’s incredible, the bass player’s amazing, the guitar solos are cool.” And now and again he’d get an album that he’d review and he’d listen to it, and all he’d say was this: “Well, you’ve got to respect what they do.” And you kind of knew he didn’t respect what they did.

We can do that with people, can’t we? We can say that we respect them, but we don’t really have any relationship with them. It’s quite a strange thing. “Well, I respect them.” Do you really? Or is “respect” the wrong word? Should we be saying, “I trust them. I want them to sharpen me. I want to sharpen them. I want us to be in unity together through Jesus Christ, through the foundation that he sets out”? That’s what it’s really about.

So I don’t like this term “I respect them from afar.” That’s not respect at all. That’s just acknowledgement. That’s just saying, “That person exists.” It’s just acknowledging. It’s not really respect. It’s not really trust. It’s not really being in proximity and sharpening one another.

We see that unity is built upon the cornerstone of Christ. And this is my bit – took me a while to think of this, right: unity is built on the cornerstone of Christ, not a paving stone of preference or personality.

You might like me, and that’s great. I like to be liked; that’s okay. You might not like me, and that’s okay too, because we’re building church here not based on one person’s personality, not even the personality of a team, but upon the foundation that is Jesus Christ.

Of course, I will do everything I can, and our leadership team does everything they can, to make sure that we’re not massively unpopular, because no one needs that in their life, right? But sometimes we will make decisions where you go, “What?” Believe me when I say we make these decisions because we believe that God has called us for such a time as this, to lead in a particular place, in a particular way, for the growth of his Church.

I’ve been in churches that have experienced mega growth before and I’ve disagreed with the decision, but that’s okay, because it’s not about my personality and it’s not about my preference. It’s about the cornerstone of Jesus Christ bringing us all together.

And actually, the cornerstone of Jesus Christ bringing us all together is seen really clearly in communion, in the breaking of bread. The Bible tells us, doesn’t it? Meet together and break bread, fellowship with one another, be in proximity with one another.

Don’t just join a gang. I’m not being offensive, but you guys aren’t cool enough to be in a gang. Myself too. We’re not. It’s not about being cool. It’s about being centred on Christ, coming together, living well together in community, so that by our love for one another everybody in Newark knows what we stand for, knows that we love Jesus, and therefore can put their trust in a Jesus who is having this massive impact on our lives.

Are we in agreement, church, this morning? Are we in agreement this morning?

Honouring the Right Things in God

Ephesians 4:11–13 says:

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

We could do a whole study just on that passage. But I want us to look at this bit: “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.”

While we’re talking about honouring, let me say this—and I can say it because I’m not the pastor: you need to honour the pastor, even if you disagree with a decision he makes, because we’re all people. I’m not saying he’s done anything wrong, but at some point we’re not going to agree with everything 100% of the time. We still need to honour him.

We need to honour those who come into our church and speak to us about specific things. And as a church, we actually do this very well. Because if honour leaves the building, it doesn’t leave us many places to go, does it?

Dom hasn’t paid me to say any of this this morning, but it’s really important that we honour—not just Dom, but the rest of the team that leads as well. I am on this team, so you’ll have to forgive me a little bit for saying that. I’m not begging for anything—I mean, I could do with a new e‑bike after Dom’s great experience on an e‑bike yesterday—but I’m not begging for anything this morning.

I’m saying that, as a church, we want to be people who honour the right stuff so that we get more of the right stuff, like Sal was saying earlier and put so well. If we want to see the right stuff, we’ve got to water the right stuff. Don’t water the weeds. You pour the opposite on weeds. You want to get rid of them, to pull them out, to root them out. We don’t need to go off into a different preach now—but that’s what we want to do with those things. We want to water what we want.

And what we want is unity, so we need to water unity. If what you want is honour, then we need to water honour.

I’m going to honour somebody right now. He played guitar this morning. Come on, just stand here for me. I don’t need you to play—let’s just have a look at your fingers. How sore are they? Oh, they’re okay; you can play some more in a bit.

I want to honour this guy for playing this morning. I know how tricky it is to play in a band with lots of people in it, and sometimes I get a little bit nervous, get a bit of butterflies and all of that. This guy, along with Angela this morning, led just on his own. And it’s your first time here doing that, isn’t it? First time in church doing that on his own this morning.

So I just want to honour you and say thank you for leading us in worship today. Thank you. You did a phenomenal job. To get up and do that in front of you scary guys is a phenomenal thing. And we want to make sure we’re doing that—honouring people.

Equipped for Service in the Body of Christ

So let me just sum up this morning while he gets his headphones back in.

Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service. We’ve got stuff to do right now. Of course, our faith isn’t works, but our works are an outworking of our faith. Our works are an outworking of our faith.

Why do we need to do them? It says it here: so that the body of Christ may be built up.

My job for today—hopefully I’ve done this, you can tell me after, not now—is that you go out feeling a little bit built up, a little bit more encouraged, maybe a little bit more challenged. But you have to do that too. That’s not just my job. It’s not just Pastor Dom’s job, Pastor Sam’s job, Sally’s job, Lou’s job, Nicola’s or Paul’s. It’s all of our job.

“Until we all reach unity in the faith.” All. Not most. Not some. All. Because don’t we know that God’s desire is that none shall perish? We all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God, and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Wow. What an amazing thing.

So, church, we are family. And whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with us. This is not a club you just disengage from. This is not the National Trust where you just don’t renew your membership. This is family.

And as family, we come around the table and we bring what we have. We open up the chicken pot, we put money in, we have conversation, we share testimonies. We’re in proximity with one another. We sharpen one another. We’re in unity together. No one should be dulling blades. No one should be pulling down. No one should be so self‑focused that they forget the body.

Discerning Your Place in Christ’s Body

For some of you, this might be a real challenge this morning. Maybe you’ve been on the periphery of church for quite some time. You’re thinking, “Sunday’s cool, but I’m not really sure about the rest. I don’t really know.”

I’m not here to just fill your week. There are loads of cool things out there that can do that. I’m not here for that. I’m here to ask you to have a conversation with Jesus and say, “Lord, show me the part I’m supposed to play in this body. Show me the part I’m supposed to play in this body.” Not to make yourself super busy with everything—please don’t do that—but to see the part you’re called to.

So I’m going to ask us all to stand, and we’re going to pray that simple prayer this morning: “Lord, show me the part I’m here to play. Show me what it is, where I plug in to this body of Christ.”

If you’re visiting today and you normally go to another church, I want you to ask that about your church. Ask, “Where is it you want me to plug in? What is it you would have me do to play my part in building others up?”

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning, for the fact that we’re able to gather together to worship you, to honour you, to give you glory. And Lord, I pray that this morning—or this afternoon—would be a time where we can just reflect a little bit on the part that we play.

So I want to hear some prayers going up. I can’t pray this for you; it doesn’t work like that. I want you to begin to pray now. Just begin to pray: “Lord, where? Lord, what? What is my part in this body? What is my part in this family? Where do you want me to serve? Where do you want me to outwork my faith? Where do you want me to be? Who do you want me in proximity with?”

And then we’re going to seal that, and we’re going to sing a song. Can we sing “Holy Forever” again, please? Sorry to break your stride, mate. We’re going to sing “Holy Forever” because he is holy, and we’re going to go out singing a truth about Jesus.

Before we do that, I’m going to pray that the Lord will seal whatever the Holy Spirit has spoken to you about today.

Heavenly Father, will you place a seal on that which you have spoken today? I believe that the Holy Spirit has dropped things into people’s hearts and said, “This is where you need to be. You need to be doing this. You need to be connected here. You need to be in proximity with that person. You need to be out of proximity with that person.”

Holy Spirit, will you seal those words this morning? Heavenly Father, will you make it plain to each and every one of us what you would have us do, as we dedicate ourselves to this house, so that we sharpen one another and have an impact on this town.

In Jesus’ name, amen.