<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of the\nChristian Community \/ Adoption; Regeneration; Election; Church: Nature \/ 1\nPeter 2:6\u20139<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Church\nattendance is commanded by scriptures. \nIt is part of God\u2019s design for those who have been saved by Grace. Jesus built the church, the called out\nassembly, because we not only need Jesus, we need each other. Fellowship is not always natural. Some folks are odd. Some are awkward. Some are not as mature as others. Some are judgmental or even hypocritical. How can I be expected to be involved with\nfolks like that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we are\nbeginning a series entitled \u201cUncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge\nof the Christian Community.\u201d We will be\ndiscovering what God had in mind when He prescribed fellowship with other\nrecovering sinners as a key for us to also recover from our sin and become more\nlike Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The church is\nnot:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* An ark for\nthe saving of a select few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A ferryboat\nto take effortless passengers to the shores of heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A life\ninsurance company, with no obligation on policy holders except the payment of a\nsmall annual premium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A social\nset, welcoming certain people and excluding others from its fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A Sunday\npleasure club for the providing of pleasant occupation on the day of rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The church is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A lifeboat\nfor the rescue of sin-wrecked and perishing souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A family, in\nwhich love and service are expected from each member to each member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* An organized\ncommunity, with constant activities and continual growth and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A company of\nbelievers who have found the one way of life and obey the one Lord of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A union of\nthose who love for the benefit of those who suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* A center of\nsocial worship, in which the spiritual life of each is helped by the spiritual\nlife of his fellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
* The\nrepresentative — the “body” — of Jesus Christ on the earth,\nreflecting his spirit and controlled by his will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
True members of\nthe church are blood bought saved sinners who have been adopted into the same\nroyal family. When we come together to\nfellowship, we are gathering with folks, although diverse in culture and\npersonalities, are bound together as brothers and sisters in Christ. According to our text this morning one of the\nmost compelling reasons for us to be intimately involved in Christian\nfellowship is that in Christ we are all peculiar people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 Peter 2:9 KJV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But ye are<\/em> a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an\nholy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him\nwho hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u203a show chosen wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n eklego<\/em> (?????????, 1586), \u201cto pick out,\nselect,\u201d means, in the middle voice, \u201cto choose for oneself,\u201d not necessarily\nimplying the rejection of what is not chosen, but \u201cchoosing\u201d with the\nsubsidiary ideas of kindness or favor or love1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 W. E.\nVine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine\u2019s Complete Expository\nDictionary of Old and New Testament Words<\/em> (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996),\n100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGeneration\u201d\nis from a Greek word meaning \u201ca race, a body with a common life and descent.\u201d\nIt does not mean here a group of individuals living within the span of a\nlifetime.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Revelation 1:5 KJV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And from Jesus Christ, who is<\/em> the faithful witness, and<\/em>\nthe first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto\nhim that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Revelation 1:6 KJV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father;\nto him be<\/em> glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u203a show royal Lowe\nNida<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word\n\u201croyal\u201d is the translation of the Greek word for \u201cking.\u201d The Levitical\npriesthood were only priests. Believers in this dispensation are king-priests,\nassociated with the Lord Jesus who is a priest after the order of Melchisedec,\na king-priest.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Didymus the\nBlind: Under the old dispensation, the priesthood and the kingship were two\ndifferent things. No one could be both a king and a priest. But afterwards came\nthe gospel, which united these two offices in Christ. From this it follows that\nthe people whom he has chosen will be both royal and priestly at the same time.\nSome people wonder how it is possible, seeing that we are called from all the\nnations on earth, for us to be regarded as one holy people. The answer to this\nis that although we are from many different nations, the fact that we have all\nrepented of our sins and accepted a common will and a common mind gives those\nwho have repented one doctrine and one faith. When there is a soul and heart\ncommon to all believers, then they are called one people. Commentary on 1\nPeter.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Gerald\nBray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude<\/em>, Ancient Christian\nCommentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 87.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word\n\u201choly\u201d in the Greek text means literally \u201cset apart for the service of Deity.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u203a show Holy wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For thou art<\/em> an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a\nspecial people unto himself, above all people that are<\/em> upon the face of\nthe earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word\n\u201cpeculiar\u201d here is used in a way not often seen today. The Greek word means\nliterally \u201cto make around,\u201d that is, to make something and then to surround it\nwith a circle, thus indicating ownership. The same verb is used in the\nSeptuagint translation of Isaiah 43:21 which reads, \u201cThis people have I formed\nfor myself.\u201d The word \u201cpeculiar\u201d today usually means \u201codd, strange.\u201d But it is\nnot so used here. The Greek word speaks of the unique, private, personal\nownership of the saints by God. Each saint is God\u2019s unique possession just as\nif that saint were the only human being in existence.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56\u201357.<\/p>\n\n\n\n …that ye\nshould shew forth the praises…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 Show forth praises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The words\n\u201cshow forth\u201d in the Greek text refer to a spoken message.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 These praises should be\ndirected to the One who called you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word\n\u201cpraises\u201d is not the translation of the Greek word customarily used to indicate\npraise, but of one which means \u201cexcellencies, gracious dealings, glorious\nattributes.\u201d 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Kenneth\nS. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader<\/em>, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ephesians 5:8 KJV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye<\/em> light\nin the Lord: walk as children of light:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You were called out of\ndarkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You were called into His\nlight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The word\n\u201cinto\u201d refers here not merely to locality, but to a result, that of the saints\nbeing participants of the light that God is in His nature. We are made\ncreatures of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenneth S.\nWuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English\nReader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be\nuncomfortable form time to time to come to church and be confronted with people\nwho have different tastes than we do, have been raised in different cultures,\nor are at different stages of Christian maturity than we are. One thing we should know. If you are saved and they are saved, you both\nare part of a chosen generation, both part of a royal priesthood, both part of\nan holy, set apart nation, and you are both peculiar, or owned by God. Therefore let us unite shoulder to shoulder\ndeclaring public praise for the God that redeemed and united us , Let us unite as we let the light shine in us\nthat called us both out of darkness. \nAfter all, we are all peculiar people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of the Christian Community \/ Adoption; Regeneration; Election; Church: Nature \/ 1 Peter 2:6\u20139 Church attendance is commanded by scriptures. It is part of God\u2019s design for those who have been saved by Grace. Jesus built the church, the called out assembly, because we … Continue reading A Peculiar People<\/span> chosen generation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
royal priesthood<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
holy nation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
peculiar people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Should You People Be Doing?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Why Should You People Be Doing It?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n