A vast majority of people still believe in God, yet we find in Romans 1:18-25, they have not kept God in His rightful place:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Romans 1:18-25 (ESV)

At OVBC we believe that you need to know that God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and each person is fully God, and there is one God. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology).

Even though the word “trinity” does not appear in the Bible, we believe that God is a trinity. Chapter 2: Of God, and of the Holy Trinity of The Westminster Confession Faith (1643-46) puts it this way:

“In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.”

Next week we will share many of the verses where we find this doctrine of God revealing Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 Today we are going to begin with the first of things that we as Christians are to know and to agree on:  Authority of the Bible.  Authority of the Bible is the belief that the Bible is the Word of God and has the right to command our beliefs and actions.  (Randy Frazee)

 The Bible is God’s gift of revelation of Himself to us.  We believe that is “breathed out” of God and profitable to us today.

 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness…14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom  you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:14-16 (ESV)

What it is profitable for…

 Teaching…sound doctrine…what is right

 Reproof…exposes, conviction, evidence…what is wrong

 Correction…rectify…how to get right

  Training in righteousness…nurture…how to stay right

Why it is profitable (the reward)

…that we may be competent (complete in accomplishment), equipped for every good work.

 Commitment

To accept God’s Word as our only authority.

I would like to end today by recommending a great article about God’s Word in Josh Harris’ blog.  You can find the blog here: http://www.joshharris.com/2008/03/a_stepford_god_1.php

STEPFORD GOD

In chapter seven of his book, The Reason for God, Tim Keller addresses the common objection of skeptics that “you can’t take the Bible literally”. At the conclusion of the chapter he writes:

If you don’t trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you. For example, if a wife is not allowed to contradict her husband, they won’t have an intimate relationship. Remember the (two!) movies The Stepford Wives? The husbands of Stepford, Connecticut, decide to have their wives turned into robots who never cross the wills of their husbands. A Stepford wife was wonderfully compliant and beautiful, but no one would describe such a marriage as intimate or personal.

Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won’t! You’ll have a Stepford God! A God, essentially, of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction. Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle (as in a real friendship or marriage!) will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition for it. —The Reason for God, pages 113-114

 Individualism is a way of life that makes the individual supreme or sovereign over everything.

The above quote from the book The Connecting Church by Randy Frazee aptly describes one of the main problems I believe that destroys churches today.  As a pastor of a small church I can testify to how individualism can destroy the unity of a body of believers.

From Acts chapter 2 we see that the early church had “all things in common” and we need to learn from that example.  It is important as a body of Christ to rally around a Common Purpose to fight the cancer of individualism in the church.  Using Randy Frazee’s book as a launching pad we are going to explore three things that we as Christians ought to share to be an authentic community.

Randy finds that we as Christians ought to unite around things that we are to know, things we ought to do, and things we ought to be.  For the next few weeks I would like to share some of the things that we at OVBC need to have in common in order to be united.  Without unity there will be no growth.

“From a physical standpoint, a community is a collection of individuals, but the residents of a true community act like members of something that is larger than themselves.”

-         John Locke

A Gospel Primer for Christians #3 by Milton Vincent

God is good! If we open our hearts we can see God’s goodness, kindness, and grace all around us. Everything we have is a gift from Him. As salt and light our responsibility to share God’s goodness with everyone. In Scripture we find people so excited about what God has done in their lives that they can’t wait to tell their friends, family, and neighbors.

““Come and See” is our theme this year. We want to encourage our friends, neighbors, co-workers, everyone to come and see the wonderful, life-changing message of Christ.

Psalms 66:1-5 (ESV)

Yet, I fear they won’t come or see unless we as believers do so first! Do we eagerly seek out the blessed Christ? Do we see his gracious gifts and kindness? If not, how can others?

For others to come we must invite as the Scriptures say with compulsion. If they are to see we must live out the blessings in our lives.

Lord, weigh heavily on our hearts this year. Let all come and see…”

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you.”

Matthew 6:33

Our Mission is to glorify God by obeying the “Great Commission” with the heart of the “Great Commandment.”

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:27 (ESV)

Our Strategy is to lead our church community to…

• REACH UP by focusing on God

Key Word is Celebration

• REACH IN by life sharing with others

Key Word is Connection

• REACH OUT by loving others

Key Word is Compassion