THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2 OF 4)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: Matthew 16:13-19
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The Fellowship of the Ring (2 of 4)
Series: The Lord of the Ring
Jeff Strite
Matthew 16:13-19
OPEN: On a spring break trip to Italy, a tour group was standing just inside St. Peter's Basilica, the 2nd largest church building in the world. The tour guide was trying to explain the enormity of the building and part of his presentation went like this: ''This church is so large no man on earth could hit a baseball from one end to the other. Not Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth or even Mark McGwire.''
The group stared in silence at the beautiful marble sculptures, intricate paintings and glorious mosaics all around all around the enormous building. Then in an astonished voice one girl interrupted the silence. She said: ''You mean, they actually let them hit baseballs in here?''
APPLY: What was it that so astonished and perplexed that young girl? She misunderstood what the tour guide was trying to say. She knew what a church building stood for, but, here was this guide talking about hitting baseballs in the church, and something inside of here told her - you don't hit baseballs in a church building.
I. Well, what do you do in a church building?
What is the purpose of the ''the church?''
Why does the church exist?
ILLUS: One particularly good description of the church's purpose was written several years ago:
The church is:
* A lifeboat for the rescue of sin-stained and perishing souls.
* A family, where Christians help one another and show love to each other.
* An organized community, designed to help each other continually grow and develop.
* A company of believers who have found the one way of life and obey the one Lord of life.
* A union of those who dedicate themselves to helping those who suffer.
* A center of social worship, where Christians encourage each other
* The representative ''body'' of Christ on the earth, reflecting His spirit and controlled by His will.
Those are all good descriptions of what the church is meant to be but I think the ...
Series: The Lord of the Ring
Jeff Strite
Matthew 16:13-19
OPEN: On a spring break trip to Italy, a tour group was standing just inside St. Peter's Basilica, the 2nd largest church building in the world. The tour guide was trying to explain the enormity of the building and part of his presentation went like this: ''This church is so large no man on earth could hit a baseball from one end to the other. Not Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth or even Mark McGwire.''
The group stared in silence at the beautiful marble sculptures, intricate paintings and glorious mosaics all around all around the enormous building. Then in an astonished voice one girl interrupted the silence. She said: ''You mean, they actually let them hit baseballs in here?''
APPLY: What was it that so astonished and perplexed that young girl? She misunderstood what the tour guide was trying to say. She knew what a church building stood for, but, here was this guide talking about hitting baseballs in the church, and something inside of here told her - you don't hit baseballs in a church building.
I. Well, what do you do in a church building?
What is the purpose of the ''the church?''
Why does the church exist?
ILLUS: One particularly good description of the church's purpose was written several years ago:
The church is:
* A lifeboat for the rescue of sin-stained and perishing souls.
* A family, where Christians help one another and show love to each other.
* An organized community, designed to help each other continually grow and develop.
* A company of believers who have found the one way of life and obey the one Lord of life.
* A union of those who dedicate themselves to helping those who suffer.
* A center of social worship, where Christians encourage each other
* The representative ''body'' of Christ on the earth, reflecting His spirit and controlled by His will.
Those are all good descriptions of what the church is meant to be but I think the ...
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