State of the Church 2024 | Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 16: 13-19

State of the Church 2024 | Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 16: 13-19

Daniel Samms

Every year, usually on the First Sunday in January, we do a State of the Church sermon. In it, our pastor preaches through key passages related to the great commission and to God’s other commands for the Church. Then, we review what can be known about the state of the Church globally, and in our own body of believers. The goal is to renew our focus on what God has commanded while taking an honest assessment of our health as a church.

For more on the Church and what God has called us to do, see our series of sermons on Ecclesiology (The Study of the Church). Just click the links below.

Featured
Unity of Faith | Ephesians 4:1-16
Ecclesiology
Unity of Faith | Ephesians 4:1-16
Ecclesiology

Christians are commanded to be unified in Christ, but how do we know who is a Christian to be unified with and who is a false believer to be evangelized or avoided (false teachers)? What about denominations? How do I know who is a faithful brother or sister? More than that, what do we need to do to build unity in the Church that Jesus has bought with His own blood? Sometimes it seems that those calling for unity are the ones pressing false doctrine, but if we are not careful, those with good doctrine will cut off faithful Christians who simply aren’t mature in the faith enough to be grounded doctrinally. This sermon addresses all this and more from Ephesians 4:1-16.

Ecclesiology
Fellowship and Church Discipline | Ecclesiology 6
Ecclesiology
Fellowship and Church Discipline | Ecclesiology 6
Ecclesiology

The topic of Church Discipline often makes people uncomfortable at first. Most Americans have grown up in a version of Evangelicalism that sees “niceness” as an essential of the faith. Subsequently, few Christians have seen faithful church discipline applied. Either they have been a part of a body of believers that was functionally antinomian (anti-law), allowing even the most egregious sins to continue without confrontation. Here is the thing: Every Church disciplines; it is a matter of who they discipline. When a man leaves his family, refuses to repent, but is allowed to continue in fellowship with impunity, the church is effectively disciplining his wife and children out of the church. When an abuser continues to harm and the church leaders claim that it is better that he be in the church than not in the church, his victims are left unprotected. So it is with false teaching, gossip, sexual immorality, and the like. Faithful discipline is critical for the protection of the saints.

However, it is not just individuals that are at risk. 1 John gives us a detailed overview of the deep fellowship (koinonia) that is to be at the center of the Body of Christ. It is this love for one another that is to be the mark of Jesus’ disciples (John 13:35). We tend to think of church discipline in negative terms, but it is helpful to remember that Church discipline is not merely about punishment, it is about cultivating and protecting fellowship. The fellowship we share is not just with one another, it is with God (1 John 1:1-9). In this sermon, Pastor Daniel will talk about biblical fellowship from 1 John 1 before addressing the critical issue of church discipline.

Ecclesiology
The Lord's Supper | Ecclesiology 5
Ecclesiology
The Lord's Supper | Ecclesiology 5
Ecclesiology

The ordinances of the Church are baptism and the Lord’s supper, and both are topics of much debate. We discussed baptism in a previous sermon. This week, Pastor Daniel addresses the command to remember the Lord’s death through communion. We learn what it does and why it is important to build faith in the believers and break down the defenses of Hell through the proclamation of the Gospel. In the process, we address the various views of communion to affirm a biblical stance.

Ecclesiology
Daniel Samms
Daniel Samms

Dan Samms lives his life hoping that when he dies his obituary looks something like this: “Daniel Samms, husband to Christy, father to Micah, Hannah, and Jayna, and pastor to a local underground church died Friday when authorities executed him for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in defiance to anti-proselytization mandates. He was known for loving God and loving people and seemed to operate on a strength not his own. He made disciples of Jesus and taught them how to make other disciples. He hated tyranny, loved guns, and liked woodwork. He loved only one woman and spent every day trying to impress her and glorify God. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all follow Christ. Services will be held at an undisclosed location due to government sanctions.”

Website
Baptism | Ecclesiology 4

Baptism | Ecclesiology 4
Jesus: Creator, Redeemer, King | Christmas Eve 2023

Jesus: Creator, Redeemer, King | Christmas Eve 2023
Mail: P.O. Box 844 Amherst, Ohio 44001. Email: info@restorationamherst.org.  Phone: (440) 864-1038.