God made known through the church
9th July 2006
Mark Eddison Eph 3v 8-10
What do you feel as you read these verses?
Verse 8 'to the Gentiles', why are those three words in there, they could have been missed out. But in Paul's mind was beyond Jerusalem, his mind was on peoples and lands far away. You and I are in those three words, and the seeds of our salvation are sown in them.
'To preach' is an old fashioned phrase, Billy Graham and Louis Palau have gone out of fashion. Preaching is seen as judgemental and intolerant. But we are called to challenge people's convictions, religion is not a private affair.
Gentile means everyone except the Jews. Not everyone has yet been incorporated into God's family.
Verse 10: God has power, presence and knowledge. He has chosen to be good therefore his character is mercy justice etc. His choice when faced with the problem of the Earth was Jesus and the church community, through which his wisdom is made known to the principalities and powers.
The focus for us is the church as the means to bring God's wisdom by reaching more gentiles.
As an architect, Mark brought us this metaphor of the building:
Like bricks we are all the same basic material (flesh & blood) and we can be shaped and together we can be built into something.
Buildings need foundations, they are very important but they are hidden. To inspect them requires digging. Only the designer knows how good they are. Needs big investment, 25% of the cost of a building can be the foundations. Power, water, communications and sewage are conveyed through the foundations. Costly to strengthen. The first thing to build. Clear spiritual parallels eg Matt 7 v 24.
What does a tree or a flower have to do to look good. Not much – open up to the light, concentrate on its source of sustenance, then its natural genetic makup produces something beautiful. It doesn't seek to be other than what it is, content to be its own little bit of creation.
If we concentrate on our foundations we can be like that.
Are our foundations strong enough. What is your foundation? Can it withstand the enemy, or tough times. We all need something strong as our foundation eg a healing, a word, creation, conviction of the resurrection.
Foundations; Is Jesus Lord over our lives, do we have a good biblical understanding of God, are we called to perform not driven to perform, do we have a clear conscience.
Are we committed to seeing strong foundations in others, eg our offspring. Personal growth in the church is more important than numerical growth.
Our community/business/family – foundations need to be strong there too. Financial integrity and honesty (accountants are important). People are an important resource, pay them fairly. We are not there to bolster our egos and line our pockets, we should be there to serve. Legal accountability. We need to be clear about our core values, strengthen and maintain them.
Buildings decay in time, there is nothing we can do about it, it's a fact of life. However, the process does create character, eg mossy areas are beautiful. Decay can also make the building ugly. In life, our decay mechanisms will determine how attractive we will become later on. The trails of life cannot be avoided but they can turn us into something beautiful. A spiritual 'stitch in time' can save nine – decay can be dealt with as in buildings something like dry rot can be dealt with and stopped.
Openness is the key to being maintained. The cross opens us up as people. When Jesus was executed the ground opened up, the graves opened up, the curtain was torn. Jesus' side was opened up, the centurion's heart was opened. The tomb was opened up when the stone rolled away.
Being open is the key to creating good character as we go through life.
Building have an impact. Buildings are the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect in his country. Bad buildings affect people eg sick building syndrome.
What impact do we make on people, we can be good buildings which stand out and make a good impact on people.
What makes a good building and can we apply that to the church. Must be fit for the purpose, functionally firm but also a delight. The real made beautiful. How does it relate to its context, does it fit its surroundings well, does it enhance its environment, is it sustainable in a green sense.
Ask the same questions about this church, do we fit our surroundings, are we relevant to our community and our culture. What contribution are we making to the environment – are cells enough, do we need the 'big group wing' to be bigger to enable us to contribute.
Are we sustainable Eph 3 v 10 our mission to pass on the good news sustains us. Are we going to be here as a church in 200 years. Our ability to reproduce ourselves, are we involved in the context of incorporating people groups in to the church.
The picture of the tree has a personal and a corporate application. Concentrating on its sustenance, opened up to the sun, not trying to be what it's not. Beautiful and big. | 
