Spreading a Vision of the Glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2011 Vision Sermon #4)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached January 30, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
(This is third of a four-part church vision sermon series. Audio will be available here.)

 
Early in the last decade, the United States Army changed their slogan from the popular “Be All That You Can Be,” to another slogan, which was controversial and didn’t last too long: “Army of One.” An “Army of One” brings to mind a host of issues. Armies don’t consist of one person. The great battles in our nation’s history were not won by one soldier off fighting by himself.

Wars are won by soldiers fighting together. They are won by “bands of brothers,” by companies and troops and platoons; by crews and squadrons—all working together for a common purpose.

Too often, the mission of the church is approached with the mindset of “an army of one,” or, at best, “an army of some.” Mission, taking the Gospel to those who do not believe, is seen as a task for the special forces, for those specially gifted. It is the hobby of a few in the church, rather than the mission of the whole.

Strengthening a Vision of the Glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2011 Vision Sermon #3)

(This is third of a four-part church vision sermon series. Audio will be available here.)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached January 23, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Savoring a Vision of the Glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2011 Vision Sermon #2)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached January 16, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here.

Last week we began examining our church’s vision statement:

“Northbrook Baptist Church exists to glorify God…
…by savoring, strengthening, and spreading…
…a vision of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

We saw that Northbrook Baptist Church exists to glorify God. This means that we exist to show-forth, to display, to communicate and commend the excellence and beauty of God. We exist to be a display of God’s glory.

And at the center of glorifying God is “a vision of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” So, we saw last week, in 2 Corinthians 3, that the reality of the new covenant has come to us through the work of the Gospel. Our sins have been removed through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And he is writing a letter with the Spirit on the fleshy hearts of his people. He has taken out our hearts of stone, replaced them with hearts of flesh, and dwells within them.

Only the Gospel enables us to have a permanent, life-giving, transforming vision of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” We saw that:

“The only way in which a person can see the glory of God in a saving and satisfactory way and willfully glorify God is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

How Do We Glorify God?
The question still remains then, “How do we glorify God with this vision of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”

The answer to that question is found in the middle line of our statement: We glorify God “by savoring, strengthening, and spreading” this vision of Him in the Gospel.

And this morning, we are discussing what it means to “savor a vision of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A Vision of the Glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2011 Vision Sermon #1)

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached January 9, 2011 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here. [I owe a debt of thanks to Jason C. Meyer's work The End of the Law, which was a great help in understanding 2 Corinthians 3-4 and which aided in making several of the observations in this sermon. I would commend it to anyone who is looking for a scholarly, thoughtful study on the relationship between the Old and New Covenants.]

This morning, and the next three Sunday mornings, we will spend our time examining and understanding our church’s vision statement, which reads:

“Northbrook Baptist Church exists to glorify God…
…by savoring, strengthening, and spreading…
…a vision of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

This morning, we’re going to examine the first and last lines of that statement. We’ll spend the next three Sundays examining the middle line.