The Church

Good morning and happy Feast of Pentecost! It is absolutely wonderful to be here with everyone today. I want to offer my appreciation and thanks for the special music and for the offeratory. Both were fantastic. It truly is a test of your marriage to play the piano together. I can say that because I wasn't married to my brother.

I might have shared this story with a few of you before. If I have, forgive me. It's a funny one. And you know my jokes. They're usually not that funny. So this one's a good one. My brother Troy and I were asked to do a duet as teenagers. I was, of course, the older brother for those of you who know Troy. And Troy at the time still has more talent on the piano than I did.

And he would sometimes just goof off and it would be easy for him and he'd make mistakes. And being the older brother, I would get on him hard at the practice. Like, you're going to mess this up. You're going to mess this up when it comes time. So it comes time for the recital. I'm sitting next to him. We're about to play the song and we're just about to start.

I get three notes in. My mind goes blank. And Troy's just playing there right along. Midway through the song, there's a point that we repeat. I can come back in. So I'm trying to pull myself back together. Get the notes back in my mind because we weren't allowed having our music in front of us. Get to that middle point and I start playing three notes. And my mind goes blank again.

My brother Troy played a duet by himself. It's pretty hard to do, but he did. I was so embarrassed. I come down. I sit down with my mom and my younger brother. Troy's got this smile on his face. My older brother leans over and says, great job, Mike. I busted into tears and ran out the back door. So I know the test to do that together and it was well done.

So thank you. The chorale, again, thank you for that wonderful song, the work that goes into that and being able to share your gifts and talents with us. It is truly wonderful, again, to be here together, to be able to have to actually look to my left and right pretty far. This is fun. And it's wonderful that we can be here on God's special Holy Day together as His people, worshiping Him and in His presence and being able to be the special called out people that we are today.

As we often do on this day, it's good to start out reviewing where this Holy Day is mentioned in God's Word and the instructions provided with it. So if you'll turn with me to Deuteronomy 16, verse 9. We'll look at these words and the instructions for this day, Deuteronomy 16 and verse 9. We're blessed and, I think, spoiled to have some large lecterns in our congregations. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do up here.

I saw some of the other men jostling their Bibles around and moving things. It's going to be fun. Deuteronomy 16, verse 9. We're instructed, You shall count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. You don't need to turn there, but in Leviticus 23, verse 15, we also have similar instructions on this day. There in Leviticus 23, verse 15, it says, We know seven times seven is 49.

You had the day to make it 50. And verse 16 of Leviticus 23 says, Back to where you're at in your Bibles in Deuteronomy 16, verse 10, it says, You shall rejoice before the Lord your God and your son and your daughter and your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, who is within your gate, the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow who are among you at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make his name abide.

And you shall proclaim, and this is going again to Leviticus 23, this time in verse 21, it says, And you shall proclaim on that same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it, and it shall be a statute forever in all of your dwellings throughout your generations. The day of Pentecost is especially significant to Christians because of the first Pentecost after Jesus's death.

God established the New Testament church through the giving of the Holy Spirit. And as a church of God, we have a commission given to us by Jesus to preach the gospel message, the good news of the kingdom of God, and to care for those disciples that he called. What is the church? As we contemplate this today, what is special about the church? What makes up God's church?

Before getting further into the message today, do any of these illustrations describe our congregation or describe our church? These are some illustrations I found. I read of a father who was in his study reading, and he heard commotion outside the windows. It was his daughter who was playing with her friends, and it got louder, and it got louder, and more heated and more argumentative, until finally he could restrain himself no longer. And he pushed the window open, and he said, stop it! Honey, what's wrong? And after the reprimand, she responded quickly, but, Daddy, we were just playing church. Have you ever heard of this one? If you want to join a church with no problems, don't. You'll ruin it. Leadership magazine, known for its choice cartoons about church, made us all smile with understanding, as one particular scene pictured a grim-faced preacher pausing during his sermon delivery and reading a note that said, We interrupt the sermon to inform you that the fourth-grade boys are now in complete control of their Sabbath school class and are holding Miss Mosby hostage. What about this one? Too often, church services are the kind pictured in the story of a father who was showing his son through a church building. They came to a plaque on the wall, and the little boy asked, Daddy, what's that for? His father said, oh, that's a memorial to those who died in the service. The little boy said, which service, Daddy, the morning service or the evening service?

Some of these are bad jokes. I told you I'm not good. You guys already know that, though. Hopefully you found those silly. You found those comical. But again, what is the church? What is special about the church and what makes up God's church? In the time I have with you this morning, I'd like us to examine the church of God and the connection of the church to the Feast of Pentecost that we are observing today. As we begin to explore the connection to this Holy Day, let's first look at a promise made about the church that you and I are part of today. Let's turn to Matthew 16 and verse 13.

Matthew 16 and verse 13. It says, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And He said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. We can quickly read through this passage and miss the important takeaway that's right before us here. Having our minds open to the understanding that God has called us to, the reason that you're sitting here today, the reason that you were sitting in congregations yesterday, worshipping Him and remembering the Sabbath, this is not something of this world. This is not something that you and I conjured up and we decided and woke up one day and said, You know what? I need to fill in the blank as we now follow God's word. All those different attributes, all the things that you and I do different from our past, is not of this world. And truthfully, it's not of us because God has called us to this. God is the one that gave the instructions. God's the one that said, This is a way of life that will lead to happiness. This is a way of life that will bring joy to your hearts, as we heard in the sermon at, that will bring peace to your lives. He brought us this word that we have in front of us. He brought us this way of life. And as Christ told Peter here, For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But the Father revealed that Jesus is who He is. And through that, we have had our minds opened to truly see God as He is and to understand His word and His truth. He has revealed Himself to us and He's revealed His understanding and way of life that we are to live because of that understanding. Continuing on in Matthew 16, verse 18, we get to the church. He says, And I also say to you that you are Peter. This is Petros. Peter, a small stone, is what he's saying. Peter in the Greek means a small stone. And he says, And on this rock, a different word, not the same two, This is a large stone, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

As much as God is the one who has revealed Himself to you and me, and He gets all the credit for doing so, God is the one who has established the church.

He is the maintainer and the supporter of the church. And this is God's church that is referenced here in Matthew 16, because the church of God is built upon the rock, which is Jesus Christ.

The word church is used throughout the New Testament, and it refers to those people who are called by God to receive salvation through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the church of God, in term, most generally applies to God's people in the New Testament, and it's the body of people who are special to God because they obey His word and they accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as the Messiah.

So what is the meaning of the word church used throughout the New Testament?

The word is achlesia, or eclacea. You could pronounce it that way as well. It comes from two parts of a word. The first is ech, e-k, which means out of. The second part of the word is coleo, which means to call.

So out of, to call, or let's flip them around the other way. The eclacea is the called-out assembly of Christ's special, spiritually transformed and faithful followers.

As we continue to consider the promise of the church, let's look at Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2, verse 10. Ephesians 2, verse 10. Here the Apostle Paul writes, Remember how Christ said that it was God the Father who gets the credit for revealing His way, His truth to us? Again, God the Father has drawn us together today. He's drawn us away from past lives. He's drawn us away from sins that we once lived in. He has done the drawing. And as we see here, for we are His workmanship. Again, we can't take credit for this. We have a responsibility to play, absolutely. But we can never take credit for the workmanship that God has done within us, because He gets the glory, because He's the one that has done it Himself. Therefore, again, the church is His workmanship. Verse 11. Therefore, remember that you once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ. Do you remember those days? Do you remember those times of attitude that you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world? What a dreadful place to be.

Without hope. Without God. Going on in verse 13. But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the wall of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace. Remember how the Jews and the Gentiles viewed each other differently? The Jews could never look at the Gentiles and consider them their brother? Paul is saying here that that wall of separation has been broken down by Christ. There is no more separation of people. You and I, we come from a diverse background. So diverse that none of our lives are unique. They're unique to each one of us. They're not the same. There are no separation, no middle walls between you and I. We don't have to even worry about our heritage. We don't have to worry about what our past faith was or where we're going in life because God is in the middle of all of us. There is no wall of separation. Jesus Christ has torn that wall down through His sacrifice. And He goes on to say, Remember the definition for church? Ecclesia called out, verse 20, Again, that reference to Christ being that rock that the church today is built upon. And verse 21, It's a beautiful passage to consider and to contemplate today on this special Holy Day. While the church of God is referenced here as a building in this passage, we know that you and I are not physical buildings. We are flesh and blood made in the image of God. But we are a spiritual building because God has placed His Spirit in each of us. That moment we had hands laid on us after our baptisms. The church is made up of the spiritual body of believers, you and I, and everyone else, with God's Spirit dwelling in them. Wherever they're at around the world is the church. We are all stones of a large temple. And each of us are in a dwelling place. And each one of us are dwelling place of the Spirit of God. So, brought together and fit together, we create this overall temple in the Lord built on the chief cornerstone of Jesus Christ. This is why a physical building or an organization, even the United Church of God, cannot be the church in the strictest sense of the word. The church is wherever God has placed His Holy Spirit within a person.

When a minister of Jesus Christ baptizes someone, we do not baptize someone into the United Church of God. If anybody ever tries to baptize you into a church, jump out of that tank and run away. Seriously. Run away if they are trying to baptize you into an organization or a church. Because the baptism wording that we have in Scripture and that we use, we say, I now baptize you not into any sect or denomination of this world, but I baptize you into the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. As we see, we are instructed to do in Matthew 28, verse 19. Let's go ahead and turn there. Matthew 28, in verses 19 and 20.

Your Bibles may say, the Great Commission, right ahead of these verses. These are those instructions that we were given by Christ Himself to go out as a church, as a body of believers, as individuals, representing His way of life. Verse 19, Matthew 28. Actually, that's 28, verse 18.

So, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. We just looked at the promise of the church. There's another promise we must consider that without, we cannot be part of the church of God. Let's look at John 14, in verse 15. God gave us the promise of the church. He gave us another promise which allows us to be part of that church.

This is John 14, verse 15. Christ says, If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another helper, that it may abide with you forever.

The Spirit of truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, but you know Him, for He dwells with you, and it will be in you. Turn ahead to John 16, verse 4, to continue the thought. John 16, verse 4. Again, He continues, Christ does, by saying, But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. But now I go away to Him who sent me, and none of you ask me, where are you going? But because I have said these things, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, and it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send it to you. We know the helper mentioned here, the comforter, is his own spirit. God's own spirit, that He has poured out to each one of us, that He's given us as we commit our lives to Him through baptism, and through the laying on of hands, we have that promise that we will receive the helper, the comforter, that we will be able to have the indwelling of His Spirit within our hearts and within our bodies. The power unlike anything else in the world, the priceless power, can't be bought with money. Remember, Simon the Sorcerer said, hey, how much do I have to pay to get this spirit? It wasn't available for money. It was available through commitment. It was available through the shed blood of our Savior.

And this is that spirit that we have within us, that promise that God would give us. We know after Christ shared these words with His disciples that night, He was arrested, falsely accused and charged, and He died an unspeakable death. And then after His resurrection over the time span of the next 40 days, Jesus appeared to the apostles and continued teaching them about the kingdom of God. And at the end of these 40 days, we have an account in Acts 1, verse 4. Let's turn there in Acts. Acts 1, just a few pages forward. Acts 1, verse 4.

Speaking of the apostles here at the beginning of Acts, and being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit, that promise of the Father, which He said, you have heard from Me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Now, when He had spoken these things while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. Is that what we would call a mic drop moment? To deliver that kind of message to His disciples, the promise of the Spirit coming upon you not many days from now, and then for Him to depart the last time from their presence.

Why is the promise of the Church and the promise of the Holy Spirit significant? Because on Pentecost AD 31, the Church was started with the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Let's turn one chapter forward, Acts 2 and verse 1. Acts 2 and verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Look, are not all those who speak Galileans?

In verse 12, So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, Whatever could this mean? Others mocked, saying, They are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice, and said to the men of Judea, And all who dwell in Jerusalem, Let this be known to you, and heed my words.

For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. That prophecy that God would give his people, his Spirit, has been fulfilled in this moment. Verse 17, the prophet Joel said this, and he said, And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh.

All flesh. Verse 21, continuing the thought of what the prophet Joel said in verse 21, And it shall come to pass, that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Peter then spends time in the next few verses diving in and sharing a sermon, witnessing to the fullness of Jesus Christ before all who are listening. Peter, for the first time, filled with God's Spirit, to give that inspired message, to speak powerfully, with power, from God. Can't imagine what it would have been like to hear that message in person. I've heard some great sermons in my life. Powerful messages.

But imagine Peter's message on that day. Continuing in verse 32, Peter, this is part of Peter's message that he shared, This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses, therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this, which you now see, and hear.

Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation, and those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. We in the ministry like to sometimes joke about this section and think about, like, if we were at a holy day where three thousand people were going to have to be baptized, boy, how would we do that? Even the script that we share, the wording that you had read to you, how long would it take to do that one by one with so many people? To lay hands on, to ask for God's Spirit to be given. What an amazing day this would have been. I think if I was blessed to be able to be there, I'd go home with a full heart, seeing the work that God had done. Again, not what we do with our hands, not what we do with our minds, not what we do with what we have conjured up in this world. This world likes to create things. Use magic, use sorcery, use anything that they can to create things. But we have God Himself who has given us His Word. We don't conjure up things because it's not mystical, it's not made up. It's spiritual and it's from God.

At this very moment, the church had started and is now growing like gangbusters. Three thousand people. Verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, and in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord, one church, one accord, in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And what happened? They just fizzled out, right? Didn't go very far. They had to go back to their work and their home and they just kind of lost the love. Absolutely not. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. There was the promise that there would be a church. And then there was the promise that God would pour out His Spirit onto mankind. So how should this impact us today? Is there a responsibility you and I have as being part of the Church of God? There are responsibilities, and I'd like to now pivot to those and look at a few of these responsibilities. Just a short list. We could each expound and expand on these. But the first item, the church stands as a light to the world. Let's turn to Matthew 5, verse 13, as we consider that the church stands as a light to the world.

Matthew 5 and verse 13. Here Christ again says, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. And it doesn't say to glorify you, does it? It says, and to glorify your Father in heaven. Again, why? Because everything that you and I do, everything that you and I know, this whole reason we're sitting here today is not through us. It's because God has started a work within each one of us. And because of that starting work, we are here because we love God, and we want to follow Him, and we see the value and the importance, and we do it because He says to.

We are that light individually and collectively as the church. God commissioned the church to set the example of His way of life to the world, and collectively we are that example. People see you and me, and they see that we're different. When your neighbors see you having a party or a picnic outside, and it's all these people from your church, and they ask you how you met, where do you know these people from? Where do you go to church? We tell them we go to Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, and they say, what's your church?

What's the name? United Church of God. But we're more than just a physical building. We follow God. We follow His teachings. We follow His commandments. We keep the Sabbath. Oh, you keep the Sabbath? Yeah. We keep the Sabbath. Just like Jesus did, the apostles did. Everyone throughout the Bible kept the Sabbath.

That's what we see. That's that light that you and I are. Not that we can be, that we are. And then collectively together, we are the church of God. Let's look at another in 1 Peter 2 and verse 11. Here the apostle Peter says, Again, our great God gets the glory and the credit. And then let's look at James 1 verse 17. James 1 verse 17 and 18. The apostle James says, This word that you and I follow, this word that you and I lead our lives, again, is the power behind why we're here.

And through God's calling of His mighty hand, you and I are sitting here. Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Another tie-in to this day of Pentecost, that first fruit, called out ones. This is one of those aspects of the responsibility that we have as the church to be that light. The second one is, the church is the household or the family of God. You can use it interchangeably. The church is the household or family of God. Turn back to Ephesians. Actually, I think we've read through this. Ephesians 2, 19. Let's go ahead and turn back there again.

Ephesians 2 and verse 19. This family of God you and I are part of is described here in Ephesians 2 verse 19. Now therefore you are no longer strangers or foreigners or friends with one another. We know each other. We see each other. We laugh with each other. We cry with each other. No longer strangers. No longer foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Consider that. Let that just ring in your minds for a little bit. Members of the household of God. How many times do you see people kind of wear their family name on their chest? Do you know my dad was so-and-so? He ran this business. Do you know who my mom runs a company? We can proudly and humbly say that we are members of the household of God.

Why? Because of the promise of the church and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Verse 20, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being that chief cornerstone. The third responsibility that we have is the church is the mother who nourishes God's sons and daughters. The apostle Paul symbolically characterized the church as a mother in Galatians 4, verse 26.

You can put that in your notes. Galatians 4, verse 26. And in Revelation 19, verse 7, the church is seen as the betrothed bride of Christ. It is clear through Scripture that God, through his merciful and loving instructions, has provided his children with a nurturing environment within the church.

This is why building internally the love of God is so vital to the church. We can all think of a beautiful example of a loving mother just cherishing her child, doting over her child, bending over backwards. I want to ask for a show of hands. How many parents have sacrificed for their children? Every single parent would raise their hands if they had sacrificed for their children. Why? Because we love them. Because we cherish them. Because we want them to live a full life. And that mother, caring for her children, looking out for the needs, pointing out the dangers, but always giving of herself to her children.

The church with God as the source should flow forth with the same beautiful spiritual love.

For God is love. 1 John 4, verse 8. Therefore the church, each of us, must also be that source of love for one another.

Not to grow cold, not to just get used to it. Not to just, as sometimes happens, we get comfortable where we're at. We get comfortable in our relationships with one another. And that love kind of starts to settle down.

Get into the flow of busyness of life. Get into the flow of busyness of Sabbath services.

That love wants to settle down. We have to always remember the responsibility we have as the church to demonstrate that love for one another. You and me, side by side, again, laughing with one another, crying with one another, celebrating with one another, propping up one another.

All these aspects that a loving family works to maintain and to build, we don't have an out on this one. This is you and me. This is our calling, our responsibility, because we have been given God's Spirit and because we are the church of God.

Let's turn to 1 Corinthians.

Actually, yeah, we will turn there in a moment. The fourth responsibility that we have as a church is that the church functions as the pillar and ground of the truth in a spiritually confused world. The church functions as the pillar and ground of the truth in a spiritually confused world. Let's look at 1 Timothy 3 and verse 15, where this phrase is recorded. 1 Timothy 3 and verse 15.

Here, the apostle Paul says to the minister Timothy in this letter, 1 Timothy 3 and verse 15. This is how you should behave as the church. This is how you should function with one another. He's saying, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth? The church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth. We must hold near and dear to this truth that God has brought us to. We must conduct our lives according to that truth and to constantly be demonstrating all that we see in Scripture daily in our lives with one another as we are one. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4. Here in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4, we have described how we are to function, how we are to work together, not for our benefit alone. God does this through His grace allow us to benefit ourselves through being part of the church, but it's for a much greater benefit for all of us, of being giving, of sharing and propping each other up. When we do that, we all move forward together. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 4.

Paul says, there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of that one to go and do whatever he wants and to be selfish. No, that's not what it says. The Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek, whether from Ohio, I'm sorry, or from Michigan. Whether slaves are free, we've all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. Verse 18, But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he pleases. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, indeed, there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. No, much rather, those members of the body, which seem to be weaker, are necessary. And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor. Verse 25, That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. And if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now, you are the body of Christ and members individually.

This understanding of the Church, as described in Scriptures, is one of the reasons why this Holy Day is so significant to you and to me. As the Holy Spirit was poured out on this Pentecost roughly 2,000 years ago, the Church of God was established by the setting apart of God's people. This Holy Day is not only a reminder of God giving His Spirit in an open fashion to those who believe and follow Him, but a reminder of what the Church of God is to be, the body of Christ that we are all part of today.

Generations of God's people have lived, committed their lives to, and died, who are part of the same Church, the same body that we are today. The last sermon I shared in each of the congregations, I talked about our true identity. What is our true identity? Is it based on the things we have, where we work, those physical identities, as the Ann Arbor congregation, the Detroit congregation, the Flint congregation? Is that our true identity? We must never forget our true identity as in being God's holy people, collectively and completely whole and one.

I'd be amiss today if I didn't turn to one of my favorite passages that I've turned with you multiple times in Ephesians 4, verse 1. Let's go ahead and turn there again. Ephesians 4, verse 1. I promise you it will not be the last time that I encourage and ask that you turn to this passage with me.

It's near and dear to my heart, and I hope that it continues to be near and dear to your heart, because with it we have the truth of who we are. And that truth gives us a power to fight, to overcome, to work together.

Putting our differences aside, putting our physical identities aside, and recognizing the collective church that we have been called to be.

Ephesians 4, verse 1. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. That's a calling that sets us apart. This collective church that we each belong to again, through this calling from God the Father, walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bonds of peace. There is one body, one spirit.

Just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all.

This oneness in every aspect of our lives that we share, the most important, gets to the core of who we are. This oneness that we share, let us never forget, as we have promised to us, through His Spirit dwelling in us, we have this oneness. It's so easy at times to take for granted the church that we are part of. Church is a word that is thrown around quite casually in society today. So often, it's used to describe the physical building down on the corner that your neighbors attend. This can't be our church, because our church isn't a physical building down on the corner. Our church is us.

I hope on this Pentecost 2019, as we have again looked and considered the origin of our church today, that we will each take to heart who we are and what we are before God. We are not just some random collection of people that we were wandering around today and saw a parking lot full of cars and said, I wonder what the hubbub's about. Let me pull in here and see what's going on. That's not how any of us showed up here today. We showed up with a purpose. We showed up to be here as His people, as family, as a church.

As we examined in the beginning, God loved us first and revealed to us an understanding that is not our own. And this revelation of His way and His life has empowered us to follow His direction and His guidance in our lives. We are the Ecclesia, the called-out ones. We are the Church of God.

Let's again turn to 1 Peter 2, this time in 2 and verse 9, as we close. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.