Four Points Church

Ok… so we are charsimatic.  Not of the tambourine banging or flag waving variety. We are just committed to the idea of passionately worshipping Jesus and living through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

A solid understanding of the Holy Spirit and His work must begin and end with Scripture.  In the O.T., God the Holy Spirit makes several cameo appearances anointing people for God-sized missions (usually kings, prophets or other national leaders).  However, Joel 2:28 holds a prophecy given by God that the Holy Spirit will one day be poured out on all flesh.  The apostle Peter tells us this prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and uses it to preach a Jesus honoring sermon that brings 3000 people into the Kingdom.

Speaking of honoring Jesus… He had much to say about the Holy Spirit in John 14 & 16, and Acts 1.  Jesus said, “it was good that He was going away, because if He didn’t then He couldn’t fulfill the promise of God the father and send the Holy Spirit to His followers” (John 16:7-10).  Also, after the resurrection, Jesus told His followers not to begin their ministry yet, but to wait for the Holy Spirit whom He would send (Acts 1:4).  It seems pretty important to Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit.  Why?  So we can be empowered to be Christ’s witnesses in all the world (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit has a few Job descriptions…

1.  Convicts people of their sin - both pre and post-salvation (John 16:8).

2.  He regenerates us / gives us a new heart - (John 3:5)

3.  He helps us live a new life by leading us, comforting us, teaching us, helping us remember scripture, and counseling us (John 14:26, 16:13).  When we walk in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit then His fruits will be evident in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).

4.  He empowers us to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8)

5.  He endues the church with gifts that allow us to maximize our gospel effectiveness.  There are 5 places in scripture that list special gifts that are sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:11) to Christians for the building of the church.  There is some debate to how many gifts there are… some would include celibacy, and an artistic gift, but scripture is clear about the following…

I Corinthians 12:8-10 - wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation

I Corinthians 12:28 - apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, helps, administration, tongues

Romans 12:6-8 - prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy

Ephesians 4:11 - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers

I Peter 4:11 - speaking, service

At Four Points we believe all these gifts are active in the church today through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for the glorification of Christ Jesus.  I will also say that we interpret I Corinthians 14 (order in service) tightly and believe that the use of the gifts is more for operation within the scattered church than the gathered church service.  Our services are not spiritual free-for-all’s like the Corinthian church experienced.

It is our earnest prayer that Jesus will continue to empower us through the Holy Spirit so we can be effective witnesses for Him in our city and world.  Everything Jesus has for us to complete our mission… we want.

I wanted to give a shout to Jason Gabriel and Jason LeFevers for being invited to Turner Field to play for the 20 or so thousand folks who went to the Braves game today. What an tremendous honor.  We praise Jesus for the influence He is giving our guys in this city.

Fevers leading at the main entrance of Turner Field

God has always loved people.  We are His prized creation… made in His image and likeness.  Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were formed by God’s own hands showing genuine care in their creation.  We are the apple of His eye.  Taking this a step further, we see in Scripture that God acts on behalf of those who are oppressed (Exodus 3:7-9).  He hears the cries of the afflicted.  He comes to the rescue of those in need.

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in Scripture… “Jesus wept.”  I don’t know what you envision when you think of God.  I think of strength, power, majesty… a zeus type figure wielding lightning bolts in his hands.  One thing that seems foreign to my thoughts is a God who cries.  Yet this is how we see Jesus as He is filled with compassion for those He loves who are mourning the loss of a friend.

Gods don’t cry… unless they care.

Jesus cares about a wedding with no wine.  He cares about a lame guy who can’t make it into the pool.  He weeps over Jerusalem who won’t accept His message of hope and deliverance.  When people sit in a field listening to Him preach all day… He can’t send them away hungry.  He even wanted forgiveness shown to soldiers that murdered Him.

If God cares about people… shouldn’t we care about them too?

The problem with the American church is we have created an event-based mindset for christian compassion.  We schedule it into our lives on a quarterly basis.  We volunteer to feed the homeless so we can mark the “I’m such a good christian” box on our spiritual checklist.  The reality is that compassion should not be an event we attend, but a life we live.  Everyday as we go about our regular routines there will be moments where we can show compassion to those who need it.  May Four Points be a church that lives this way.

We had a double whammy this past Sunday and hit two core values in one.  Our text was Acts 17 where Paul addressed the men of Athens on Mars Hill.

Culture…

I grew up in a church that created a Christian bubble.  We were the good guys and everyone outside the bubble were the bad guys.  In our church we all looked the same, dressed the same, worshipped the same, and talked the same.  I was taught not to associate with “bad people” because they would corrupt my goodness.  There were even Bible verses used to indoctrinate this view… James 4:4, I John 2:15-17, II Corinthians 6:14.

The reality is this view is bad theology because it isolates a few verses from the whole counsel of God.  It’s true that we are separate from the world because we are chosen by God to be His people (He has always had a people, nation, church). However, the Bible teaches that Jesus had a mission to seek and save that which is lost and He commissions His followers to do the same.  The most famous verse, John 3:16, tells us that God loved the world which is why He came.  Jesus was most unorthodox in his practice of living life with “all” people.

We cannot hide from culture.  We must engage it as Jesus our Lord & King did. Paul is a perfect example of this.  In Athens, he spoke with everyone who would talk with him, studied their city and religious practices, and read their poets and sages who were influencers in their society.  When he was called to give an account for Jesus and His resurrection, Paul was able to contextualize the gospel in a way the Athenians could understand and receive.  We must do the same.  It’s hard to be salt and light if your living in a bubble never associating with anyone who is not like you.

Innovation…

Where did we ever get the impression that trying new things was unacceptable? For whatever reason, the church has associated innovation with heresy.  People get stuck in cultural habits and patterns and associate spirituality with them.  I have seen this happen as people are sure the only way a church can worship is by having a choir, and certainly the only “real” version of the Bible is the KJV.

When we study scripture we find that the early church was extremely innovative in finding ways to take the gospel to their world.  We constantly see them blazing new trails.  In the first 15 chapters of Acts we see the church implement 13 new ways to take the gospel to the nations.  Where did we ever get the idea that innovation was bad?

I often hear people say that we need to be more like the early church.  I fully agree. Our message (the gospel) never changes… JESUS LIVED, DIED FOR OUR SIN, WAS BURIED, AND WAS RAISED!!! However, like the early church, our methods are constantly changing as we find ways to take the gospel to our communities and world.  This shouldn’t be hard… It’s really common sense.

As a final note I told Four Points that I can’t wait until someone comes into my office with this statement… “we have never done it that way before.”  After I judo chop them in the throat I will rejoice that we are being innovative in our presentation of the gospel.

Just wanted to share some pics.

God has always had a plan and a people.  Four Points is not the beginning of what God is doing, nor is it the end.  We are part of a long line of those whom God raises up to blaze new trails for the gospel.  We see ourselves as taking our place in history.  This is our time and our generation that God has entrusted to us to steward His gospel.  We honor those who have gone before us by learning from their experiences.  Our lineage helps us maintain proper doctrine and church polity.

Roots Theology

1.  Shaking off the non-essentials

II Kings 18:4 - Sometimes we add things to Christianity that we think are essential to our faith… but are not.  Hezekiah becomes King and seeks to honor God by removing idolotry from Israel.  In doing so, he realizes that there are some sacred pieces of Israel’s history that have become idols to the people… the bronze serpents of Moses (Numbers 21).  He destroys them before the people.  I can hear the gasp throughout the crowd in my mind.  Think of how precious these heirlooms would have been to the people.  They were from a time of God’s provision and salvation in the Hebrew story… and made by the hands of Moses himself.

Hezekiah rightly understood that the people had wrongly focused on the serpents instead of the God who worked through the serpents.  Therefore, they had become an idol that had to be destroyed so that God’s people could once again focus on the living God and worship Him alone.  At Four Points we are careful not to follow traditions of men that leave us divided and empty.  We are also careful not to create new traditions that our children will struggle to overcome.  Some churches fight over all the wrong things… music styles & methods, pews versus chairs, VBS, Sunday School versus small groups, etc.  At Four Points we are comfortable with understanding that our methods are never written in stone.  We focus our fighting on the battle field of sound doctrine instead… God became flesh, lived perfectly, died in our place for our sin, was buried, and 3 days later conquered death and hell and is returning for us again.

2.  Rediscovering the essentials

II Chronicles 34:14 - Sometimes in looking back through our roots we discover things that are essential to Christian faith that we have lost over the years.  We need to regain these things.  Josiah was a righteous king that discovered the Bible in the Temple that was being used as a storage shed.  After reading the Bible, he tore his clothes in agony because he realized that his people had lost something essential.

At Four Points we want to rediscover things that are essential to our faith and return them to their proper place.  A few examples I mentioned Sunday…

Jesus our first love - Jeremiah 2, Revelation 2:2-5.  We can do the right things for all the wrong reasons.  Like the Pharisees we depend upon our works to give us merit before God when in reality we neither know Him or love Him.

The fear of God - Proverbs 1:7, Philippians 2:12-13.  In our culture, God is nothing more than a life coach who walks beside us and gives us wisdom to become everything we desire to become… rich, famous, influential, etc.  While God does bless His people He also commands worship and obedience.  He is not our buddy we call on for help… He is our God who we give our lives too.

I just found out that we have a site where sermon podcasts are uploaded to prepare them for itunes.  You can listen and download sermons from this site.  There is quite a repository dating back to before we launched the church.

I recommend the Roots series which is the exegesis of I Corinthians 15 concerning the Resurrection of Christ.  

The link is…   http://fourpointschurch.podbean.com

THE SCRIPTURES

The family is under great attack in our culture today.  24 million children grow up without dads, the feminist movement has blurred gender roles, and the sanctity of marriage is painted as old fashioned and non-progressive by gays.  Many new definitions of “family” are being constructed by our society where the trends change every 37 seconds.  We take our definition of family from Scripture. 

Many people take what they want from Scripture and leave what they don’t.  They use “their” verses as weapons to support “their” agendas, and justify away the verses they don’t want to be accountable to.    An example of this would be the great debate concerning Polygamy.  Those who want more than one wife find stories in the Old Testament where men had more than one wife and say, “here it is in the Bible.”  In this way, they miss the clear teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman and fall prey to unreasonable reason (ex: Judas betrayed Jesus in the Bible so I should to).  

At Four Points we have a High View of Scripture.  This means if the Bible says something we don’t like… we change our minds.  Scripture is either God’s word in it’s entirety or it’s just another book.  There is no room for compromise here because the Bible doesn’t give room for it… It says that it is God’s Word.  It’s like Jesus… either He is who He says He is or He is a liar that can’t be trusted.  There is no room for other explanation.

MAN AND WOMAN

Man and Woman are co-equal.  They both have intrinsic value and worth because they were created in the image and likeness of God Himself (Genesis 1:26).  Not only are they the image-bearers of God, but they are perfect companions for one another.  Eve being made out of Adam’s rib is symbolic of companionship (walking side by side) and equality (Genesis 2:18-22).  God was pleased to complete Adam by creating Eve and said, “for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife” (Genesis 2:24).  Jesus re-emphasized the importance of this union between male and female in the New Testament.  When asked about divorce, Jesus quoted from Genesis 2:24 and said, “What God has put together let no man tear apart” (Mark 10:9).  

GENDER ROLES

We serve a trinitarian God who exists in community with Himself.  The Father, Son and Spirit are all equally God but exist with a functional subordination to one another.  The Father wills through the Son and the Holy Spirit does the work (Genesis 1:1-3, John 1:1-3, 14).  Jesus repeatedly declares He is God, but also shows subordination to the Father by saying, “I do only what my Father shows me” and “not my will, but yours be done” (John 5:19, Mark 14:36).  How does this concern gender roles?  

We are created in his image and there is functional subordination within our human relationships as well.  

Scripture teaches that men and women are equal but given different roles… much like the trinity (Genesis 2:18, 3:16-19, Colossians 3:18-21, Ephesians 5:22-33, I Peter 3:1-7. I Timothy 5:8, 14,  I Corinthians 11:2-16, Titus 2:3-8).  A man’s role is to work, protect and provide for his family, act and look like a man, discipline and instruct his children, love his wife, lead his family, and lead the church.  In short… God puts all responsibility for the entire family on the shoulders of the man.  Our first father Adam sat and did nothing while his wife had a conversation with Satan that led to sin.  God came looking for Adam… He held Adam responsible (Genesis 3:6 & 9).  The role of the woman is different.  She is to conceive, birth and raise children, manage the home, look and act like a woman, submit to her husband and be his companion and helper, instruct and discipline children, and train younger women.  Feminist women believe to be in submission and a helper is demeaning.  It is interesting to know that the word for helper in Genesis 2:18 referencing a woman is the same word used to reference the Holy Spirit being a helper to the church (John 14:16, 26, 15:26, 16:7).  Also, the ability to create life is not something to wink at.  The most powerful man on our planet does not have this ability.  

Our culture simply does not understand authority.  All authority comes from God.  To deny the way He has distributed it is to deny His Sovereignty.  For someone to say, “it’s not fair that God made man the head of the family” is the same as saying “it’s not fair that God gave Christ authority over His church.”  Authority is God’s alone and His to give to whom He chooses (Romans 9:20, Romans 13:1-2).  At Four Points we don’t question God’s design… we simply obey it.  

THE CURSE

If Scripture seems clear on the roles of men and women in the family… why all the fuss?  The curse of sin has been placed on the descendants of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  According to Genesis 3:16, the woman is only able to bring life into the world through great pain.  Also, her desire will be to rule over her husband even though God has said that He will rule over her.  For the man, he would sweat and toil over his work so that he could provide for his family.  The result of the curse for a man is that his value would be found in the work he performs.  This is why the first question a male asks another male upon their first meeting is, “what do you do?”  

The only way to move beyond the curse of sin is to submit to the authority given to Christ by God to redeem us (John 5:27, 8:28, 10:18, 12:49, 14:10, 17:2).  As fallen humans, we must pray the prayer of Jesus in the garden, “not my will, but yours be done.”  When Jesus regenerates our heart we have no problem living according to  His word.  

CHILDREN

God gives children to a man and a woman.  Children are seen as a blessing throughout the Scriptures.  David said, “As arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are the children of his youth.  Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them” (Psalms 127:4-5)

Scripture also speaks directly to children and exhorts them to “honor their father and mother” with a promise attached to the commandment… “it may be well with you and you may have a long and happy life”  (Ephesians 6:1-3).  

Parents are to take advantage of the great faith that children possess and train them while they are young.  If we do this then they will not depart from their faith when they are older (Proverbs 22:6)

REFLECTION

What is your view of Scripture?  Reflect on the parts of Scripture that are hardest for you to accept and ask Jesus to reveal why you have trouble accepting them.  

How does your family operate?  Is it congruent with the Scriptures?  

What are some ways that parents can train their children in faith?

GOD IS COMMUNAL

God has always existed and revealed Himself within the boundaries of intimate relationship.  We serve one God (Monotheism).  However, He reveals Himself to us in three distinct roles.  The early church coined the term “trinity” to describe these three roles of Father, Son and Spirit.  While all three roles are equally God, there is a functional subordination… The Father wills through His Word (Jesus - John 1:1-5, 14) and the Holy Spirit does the actual work (Genesis 1:1-3).  While being equal they are mutually submissive and delight in their working together.  

The Scriptures testify of our triune God who exists in community.  In Genesis 1:26 & 3:22, God speaks of Himself with a plural tense… “Let us.”  In Matthew 3:16-17 we see the clearest picture of the trinity in all of the Bible.  Jesus is baptized and the Holy Spirit descends on Him like a dove and God the Father speaks from Heaven simultaneously. 

One of the most interesting words used to describe God’s plurality is found in Deuteronomy 6:4.  The verse says that, “The Lord our God is one.”  The word translated as one is “echad.”  Think of humanity being one race yet made up of many different people groups and many more individuals.  God is a community of one.   

HUMANITY IS COMMUNAL

Genesis 1:26 tells us that humans are created in the image and likeness of God.  If God is a communal being and we are made in His image… then we are communal as well. Everything God created was good until Adam.  God looked at Adam and saw that He did not have a suitable partner to be in relationship with.  God said that this “is not good” Genesis 2:18.  

God creates a partner for Adam.  When Eve stands before Adam, God says, “they shall become one “echad” flesh” Genesis 2:24.  Scripture uses the same word to describe the relationship between Adam and Eve as it does for God’s triune relationship.  

All the written history that we have records of show that humanity has always existed in tribes, communities and societies.  Some are large (nations) and others have stayed small (Bedouin Shepherds).  Yet all live in community.  We need each other… History has proven this.  

THE CHURCH

God has always had a special community of people that He “set apart” just for Him.  This community began with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) and grew into a holy nation that God treasured (Exodus 19:5-6).  The Lord sustained this chosen community through a succession of prophets until He sent His son (Jesus) who made possible all tribes, nations & tongues to be part of this family (John 15:5, Revelation 7:9-10).  

Scripture teaches that those of us who have been saved by Christ should not forsake  this community (Hebrews 10:25).  Jesus called this community the “church” (Matt. 16:18).  The early church devoted themselves to this fellowship (Acts 2:42).  Also,      there are numerous teachings concerning being in community with one another…

Love one another - John 13:33-35, Romans 13:8, I Peter 1:22, I John 3:11,    23, 4:7, 11-12, II John 1:5

Be devoted to one another - Romans 12:10

Bearing with one another - Ephesians 4:2, Colossians 3:13

Live in harmony with one another - Romans 12:16, I Peter 3:8

Be kind & compassionate to one another - Ephesians 4:2

Offer hospitality to one another - I Peter 4:9

Speak to one another with Psalms - Ephesians 5:19

Don’t pass judgment on one another - Romans 14:13

Submit to one another - Ephesians 5:21

Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another - I Peter 5:5

Encourage one another - I Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13, 10:25

Instruct one another - Romans 15:14, Colossians 3:16

Don’t slander one another - James 4:11

Greet one another - Romans 16:16, II Corinthians 13:12, I Peter 5:14

Spur one another towards love & good deeds - Hebrews 10:24

Agree with one another - I Corinthians 1:10

Serve one another - Galatians 5:13

Accept one another - Romans 15:7

Honor one another - Romans 12:10

The biggest threat to the church is individualism.  This thought process began with the Enlightenment and has now peaked in American consumerism.  John Donne (a contemporary of Rene Descartes) penned the term, “No man is an island.”

COMMUNITY IS REALITY

Community is not something that we have to do… It is something that we are.  For many Christians… Church, Small Groups & Evangelism are events that we juggle with all the other responsibilities of life.  The reality is that we find our identity in being part of this new community with Christ and everything else in life naturally flows out of this.  We don’t try for community… We are community.  This is our identity and all of our life reflects this.  If we find our identity in anything else… we fall short.  

REFLECTION

In John 17:22, Jesus prays a prayer for His church.  He prays that as He and the Father are one… that His followers would be one as well.  Jesus prayer is for us to live within the boundaries of relationship and mutual submission… just like He does.  

Do you have a proper perspective of what community is?

Do you live out of your relationship with Christ and His Church, or something else?  

In beginning this series we must first discuss the mission of the church.  Our core values only help us in our decision making process to support and be faithful to the mission.  

Mission brings order to chaos.  It focuses diverse people from different perspectives to one goal so they can be effective in reaching that goal.  As Andy Stanley states, “Everyone ends up somewhere, some people end up there on purpose.”  At Four Points we begin with the end in mind.  We know where we are going.  Our mission is not something we made up… as a church, we belong to Jesus.  He is the head of His church and He has set the mission.  We simply follow our Savior & King.  

A few things we need to understand…

God has always had a plan. Nothing has taken Him by surprise.  Ephesians 1:3-11

His plan is fully realized in Jesus.  God didn’t leave us guessing.  He is not hiding from us.  He has made Himself and His plan known to us through Christ.  John 5:39-40, Luke 19:10

Jesus tells us He is building a church.  This is God’s plan.  To have a group of people who gather together on the foundational statement, “Jesus is the Christ.”  Matthew 16:18

Jesus gives the church a mission.  We don’t just gather to worship Jesus, but we scatter to make Him known to the world.  Matthew 28:19

Four Points Church Mission:

We exist to glorify Christ and build Christians who live as missionaries to their neighborhoods and world.    

Our Four Point Process:  How we live our mission…

LOVE - Our mission begins with love.  Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love God and the second was to love people (Matthew 22:34-40).  Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:7-8).  We deeply love Jesus and through Him we also love everyone we come in contact with.

DEVOTION - Real love devotes itself.  The believers in Acts 2:42 devoted themselves to the Scriptures, Church and Worshipping Jesus.  Devotion is studying the scriptures and adhering to sound theology.  Devotion is being part of the gathered church and worshipping Jesus.  Devotion is enjoying spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, and giving.  Devotion speaks truth in love.  

PASSION - Love & Devotion lead to practice.  Passion is putting teeth to our faith.  We seek to be doers and not simply hearers (James 1:22).  We actively engage our culture with the Gospel, first in our neighborhoods and then to our world.  Jesus said, “those who claim to live in me, must walk as I walked (I John 2:6).  

LEGACY - The promised Gospel is not only for us but for our children and their generations as well (Genesis 17:7).  Through love, devotion & passion for the Gospel we hope to continue the lineage of those who walk in the footsteps of Jesus and make the narrow path plain for those who come after us.  We gladly leverage our temporary lives for the eternal purposes of God.  

Our Four Points are not a gimmick… but simply an easy way for our church to remember the mission that Jesus gave His church so that we can stay on that mission and not be sidetracked in our fast-paced society.