Why Mountain Springs Church?
The 7 Distinctives of Mountain Springs Church Part 2
- Why has God raised up Mountain Springs Church?
- What are our purpose and distinctives? Why did God bring Liz and me back from Japan, such a needy country, to plant this church?
- Last week I began answering these questions as we looked at a passage in scripture in which Jesus confronts and engages a Samaritan woman in a conversation. We can see 7 distinctive marks of our church from this passage.
- I shared that there are 4 themes of MSC:
- We are a Word and Spirit Church
- We are a multigenerational church
- We are a missional church
- We are “building a great church by building a great people”
John 4:1-15: Distinctive 1: The Centrality of Jesus Christ
Vs. 16-21: Distinctive 2: A Grace Atmosphere of Love and Acceptance
Vs. 21-24: Distinctive 3: Worship in Spirit
Vs. 21-24
Distinctive 4: Worship in Truth, the Word of God
- Jesus also says that we should worship Him “in truth.”
- Jesus, in praying that His disciples would be holy and unified, prayed to His Father:
John 17:17
“Sanctify them by Your truth; Your word is truth.”
- We can only become holy disciples through God’s Word, the Bible.
- We can only be unified as the body, if we are unified under a standard, and with a strong foundation, the Scriptures.
- The Bible is the foundation for all that we know and understand about Christ. It is from the Bible that we are able to ground our experiences and judge our actions.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
- The foundation of the Prophets is the Old Testament and the foundation of the apostles and Jesus is the New Testament.
- John Piper writes, “The water offered to the Samaritan adulteress was the word of truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. When we come to Christ to drink, what we drink is truth—not dry, lifeless, powerless truth, but truth soaked with the life-giving Spirit of God! The Word of promise and the power of the Spirit are the living water held out to the Samaritan harlot” (p. 63 Desiring God).
- From Genesis to Revelation, we come to understand the Great Drama of the Ages, that God took on the form of man and entered our world. The prophets of the Old Testament predicted it; the apostles of the New Testament confirmed it.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- John Piper says, “Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and church full of artificial admirers (like people who write artificial generic anniversary cards for a living). On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivate shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship” (p. 65 Desiring God).
- We believe that the Scriptures are Holy Spirit inspired and Holy Spirit empowered to change us and deeply impact our minds and hearts.
- We want hearts and minds on fire for God! We must engage the mind and heart.
- Without the heart we live a life of lifeless, dead, plastic religion.
- Without the head we live a life of emotionalism and empty frenzy.
- True worship in Spirit and truth only happens as we have a vision of the greatness of God! How can we know and understand the greatness of God except from His Word.
- Only in the Bible do we discover who God is and how we can personally know Him.
- Only through the Bible can we study, experience, and view the greatness, the majesty, and the splendor of God.
- Only in the Bible are we instructed how to walk obediently with the Lord.
- Only in the Bible do we learn and experience the power of God’s promises.
- It is from the Scriptures that we judge all prophecy, revelation, and guidance from God and men. We worship God when we study, meditate in, and are taught from the Word of God.
John 6:63
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
- But it must be words that bring life!! It is teaching that is from the Spirit.
- Thus, in all Word and Spirit Churches we believe strongly in the expository teaching of God’s Word. We generally teach the Bible by book by chapter by verse.
- Worship in spirit and truth? The fuel of worship is the truth of God found in the Scriptures; the furnace of worship is the spirit of man; and the heat of worship is the vital affections of gratitude, joy, and reverence that come through the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
- We want to be able to say, like the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders,
Acts 20:27
“I have not shunned to declare to you, the whole counsel of God.”
- At MSC we believe that the only way for our people to receive the whole counsel of God is to be taught from and through the entire Bible, precept upon precept.
- Ex. From AWANA to Women of the Word (WOW) to Life Groups to weekend services, we worship in Spirit and truth with God’s Word.
Vs. 25-34
Distinctive 5: Releasing the Saints for Ministry
- The life of this Samaritan woman was being transformed by Christ. She now believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah!
- She immediately took her newly discovered message to the streets of Samaria. She proclaimed her new life to anyone who would listen. The people of the city were obviously interested and intrigued by her message. They followed her as she led them to the Messiah, Jesus.
- The greatest evangelism is a changed life!
- Ex. This is what I mean: “Build a great church by building a great people, one person at a time.”
- Mountain Springs Church and Word and Spirit churches are committed to equipping and releasing all believers to do the work of ministry.
Ephesians 4:11-12
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
- At MSC we believe that the role of leadership in the church is to discover, develop, equip, and release the saints to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- We believe that everyone who has a personal relationship with Christ, is called to be an “inviter and includer” to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
- We believe every believer is called to become a disciple who can be used of God to change the world.
- We believe that the ministry of the church must flow from the hearts of the people. Word and Spirit churches believe in raising up and releasing leaders from within the body, who will multiply their lives into the lives of others.
- We always want to be a “permission giving” culture.
- Ex. If you have a vision for a ministry, we want to empower you to go for it.
- Ex. Every major ministry at MSC was started by a member of our church. All 100 small groups are led by the members of MSC, as well as the prison ministry, Helping Hands, orphanages, church plants, AWANA, the marriage ministry, and mentoring.
Vs. 35-39
Distinctive 6: Seeking and Reaching the Lost
- This woman was lost and Jesus sought her and found her. Jesus sought out a Samaritan woman at a well.
- Jesus is still seeking out His people and His true Church. God is seeking out worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and truth.
- Yet Jesus did not stop with her; He used her to reach out to an entire village!
- God is seeking us! He is the “hound of heaven” on the trail of His chosen people. God knows those who are His and He is actively seeking out His people.
- Jesus proclaims to us that the harvest of souls has begun with the new grace dispensation. Jesus reminds us of the urgency of the hour. Now is the time for harvest. We are being challenged by Christ to believe Him for the harvest.
- Thus, at MSC we believe that Jesus is still seeking and finding the lost and dying of this world.
- Reaching people in our communities with the life changing gospel of Jesus Christ is one of the signs of being filled with God’s Spirit.
Acts 1:8
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
- Jesus is challenging all of us to the bountiful harvest of souls that are all around us.
- We see the heart and passion of the Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, when he said he had “fully preached” the gospel.
2 Timothy 4:17
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear.
- We desire to fully preach the gospel in our communities. We desire that each person in our communities would have the opportunity to hear a clear presentation of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Ex. Not many of us are capital E Evangelists but we are all small e evangelist as “inviters and includes.”
- About 200 come to Christ at weekend services
- About 100 at AWANA
- About 100 at Vacation Bible School
- Personal evangelism brought about 50 to Christ
- About 25 through Helping Hands
- Virtually every person who got saved came because one of you invited and included them.
Vs. 39-42
Distinctive 7: Building up Communities of Families
- This woman was used of God to take the Good News of Christ to her home community. Whole families came into the kingdom through her witness.
- In the account of the early church, we see the powerful strategy of the early apostles to reach whole families for Christ.
Acts 16:31-34
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
- The early church believed that it was paramount that whole families be won to Christ, and this began, most often, with reaching the men. From the men, the entire family came into the kingdom.
- Ex. We see adoption and the ministry of orphanages as huge pieces of the puzzle in taking parentless children and bringing them into families. Two specific groups at MSC show our love for orphans: Adoption Care Group and Project 1:27.
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
- We believe that reaching, mentoring, and building men into leaders is the key strategy for touching families.
- Because of the continual fracturing of the family in our society, we want to provide a faith challenging atmosphere in our churches, where the whole family is discipled in their walk with God.
- The future leadership of the church is found in the home. We want to train fathers and mothers to disciple and build their children into future Christian leaders.
- Ex. MSC builds up men, women and families through the Men’s and Women’s Adventure Weekends, the Marriage Ministry, equipping classes, and mentoring.
- We are confident that as we reach out to our communities with the love of Christ, God will grow our churches. We believe what Jesus said,
Matthew 16:18b
“…I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
- Jesus has promised to build His Church. He has promised that He will grow His Church. We share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results up to God.
Questions to Discuss:
- How do we worship the Lord in truth?
- How do we get empowered to share our faith with others?
- What opportunities has God given me to be an “inviter and includer”?
If you have never officially joined Mountain Springs Church and would like to stand up and say, “I am not going to be a spectator, I want to be a participant by joining this local church and becoming a growing and committed member of Mountain Springs Church,” then contact us and we will pray for you.
This sermon was produced at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs, with Senior Pastor Steve Holt. www.mountainsprings.org
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