In Scott Brown's sermon, 'Love Your Local Church,' he emphasizes the significance of the local church in the life of believers. Drawing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's 'Life Together,' Brown reflects on the profound nature of fellowship within the church, encouraging families to be zealously devoted to their local church as the center of their lives. He highlights the church as the bride of Christ, urging believers to nurture zeal for their Father's house and embrace the ordinary means of grace found in church relationships. Brown outlines the importance of loving the church as Christ did, through sacrifice, identification, building, and presence. He stresses that families should prioritize church life, teaching children to love and cherish it by being active and intentional in participation. Brown calls on parents to be inspiring guides for their children, helping them experience the richness of church life and encouraging them to see it as a treasure trove of spiritual experiences. Ultimately, the sermon is a call to honor the local church as the most important institution in the world, echoing Christ's love and devotion.

I'd like to bring a few things to our attention here this afternoon, but then I'm going to open it up for discussion just for some Wisdom from the congregation regarding how to apply some of these things that I'm going to speak about. Well, what am I going to speak about? I'm going to speak about love for the local church. Now, I was in my early twenties when I read a book called Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and my pastor wanted me to read it and I read it. And it was very powerful and very helpful to understand what it's like and what it means to live life together in a local church.

And several years ago, I think it was four years ago, I had back surgery and I was flat on my back for quite a while. And I listened to the audio book of Life Together again after really probably after almost 40 years and I was just reminded of the many helpful things that are there Some of the Tenderest images that you'll find in the Bible describe life together. They describe the local church and what the fellowship of the saints is like. And we're so privileged to have many, literally, laws, commands to help us to create the kind of sweetness of life that God desires for us in His church. So I want to make several points about that.

I have particular concerns about families and the way that they relate to a particular local church. And every family needs to be zealously devoted to a local church. If one is zealously devoted to a local church, they'll have time for very little more. And it should be the center of our lives. Why should it be the center of our lives?

Because Jesus Christ loves the church and God the Father is giving a bride to His Son. That is the center of history. The whole history of the world is summed up in the rescue of a bride. All things are summed up in Jesus Christ. It's very important that you make the center of history the center of your life as a family.

And my question is, do you have zeal for your Father's house? Families need routines. They have been called the ordinary means of grace. The relationships that exist in a local church, even the conflicts and disappointments that happen in a local church are perfectly ordered for us. We need them.

We frankly need them. We need to rub up against people of different types, different opinions, different theological backgrounds, different kinds of baggage coming in the door. And sometimes those people don't please you. They say things that you don't want to hear, and you have to somehow get over it. But the Bible gives us so many ways to get through those kinds of times.

But God uses the glories and the difficult times in a local church to build His people in order to create Christians who are healthy, increasingly healthier. And we know that the gates of hell won't prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. So One of the great things about a local church is that you learn how to love people who are being sanctified ever so slowly. So it's very important that we love the institution that Jesus died for and he collects his people into local churches. Now, how do you know the importance of anything?

Because I'm saying build your life around a local church, a specific local church. How do you know the importance of anything? Well, you know, how would you discern the value of one thing over another? You could look at its approval rating, you could look at its external popularity, you could look at its performance historically, you could look at it, you know, economically, how successful it is. You know, you could rank a church on how it contributes to your social position or your financial position.

But if you want to know the value of the church, look who loves it. Look at who, look at what is sacrificed for it. Look at how long it lasts. Look at its impact. Ultimately, you can tell what is important by what Christ says is important.

Jesus declared the importance of His church by shedding His own blood for His church. And the Church of Jesus Christ is the most important institution that exists on the planet today. But unfortunately, you know, we live in an evangelical environment where people kind of don't think that so much, and they don't really make their local church the center of it. When I use the word church, I'm really talking about a local church, not the universal church, and why. You know, most of the references to church or ecclesia in the New Testament are referring to local churches.

Over 90 percent of them refer to local churches, visible congregations of baptized believers, not the universal church. You know, over a hundred times the term is used, it's used very few times for the universal church. Here's a confessional description of a local church. The visible church is the organized society of professing believers in all ages and places wherein the gospel is truly preached and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper administered in true faith." A local church is pictured in Acts chapter 2 verse 42, And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers And that's a picture of a community of meeting together eating together learning together singing together Evangelizing together loving one another in a particular community, in a particular city, in a particular organized local church. And families need that kind of community.

And how did Jesus Christ think about the church? We know from Paul's letter to the Philippians, in Philippians 2, 5 through 8, that we are to have the mind of Christ for His church. In other words, don't make up your relationship to the church in your own way. Have the mind of Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And so to have the mind of Christ is to behave toward the church the way he behaved, to love the church the way he loved her. Paul also said, or John also said in 1 John 2, 6, He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walks. So I say that just to make it very clear that we should have the mind of Christ and walk the way that Christ walked regarding a local church. So what does it look like that Christ loved the church? Well, there are many ways.

I'm going to just give you four ways that Christ's affection toward the church was demonstrated. And I want us to ask, how am I doing with that? First of all, he gave himself up for her. Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5, 24 through 30.

He gave, his life was not his own, he laid down his life for his friends. Why? That he might sanctify and cleanse her by the washing of water with the word. That means that love for the church isn't just something that exists in your mind. It's one thing to say, oh, I love the church, But Jesus loved the people in the church.

A lot of times, people have some good feelings about the church, but the people, they don't have so much good affections for them. But the church is a collection, or a collection of people, and Jesus Christ loves His bride in spite of her deficiencies, and He continually works for her purification. His church comes to Him in rags, and he gives her new garments. And the objective is that he might present her to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. To have the mind of Christ is to think that way toward one another, to love one another with such devotion like that, that we're going to work with one another to remove the spots and the wrinkles.

And guess what? That takes a long time. Now the second thing that he did, not only did he give himself, He personally identifies himself with the church. In Acts chapter 9 is this great moment in the life of the apostle Paul. He's breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus.

He's dragging men, women, and He's actually working for their death. And Paul is on the road to Damascus to do the same thing, to drag more people out and persecute them. And he hears a voice from heaven, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goats.

Saul was persecuting the church He was dragging men and women out of their households having them killed and Jesus says you're persecuting me in other words When you touch the church you touch Jesus you you're When you mess with the Church of Jesus Christ, you're dealing with Jesus Christ Himself. He so closely identifies with His Church that Jesus says to Saul, Why are you persecuting Me? That must have been quite a wake-up call. Well, we know it was Thirdly he builds his church Jesus said on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ builds his church and to have the mind of Christ is to build the church, to be so devoted to it, to have the same kind of passion that he had when he said, zeal for your house has eaten me up.

He had great passion for the building up of his church. Now these are just four ways that Christ loved his church and we should ask ourselves are we doing those, are those kinds of things in our hearts for the local church that God has called us to. There are many other ways. How about here, how about this one? He is present with his church.

He said, I will never leave you or forsake you. He sends another helper like himself and he says, I will not leave you as orphans. He comforts his church. He says, let not your hearts be troubled, but you believe in God, believe also in me in my Father's house or many dwelling places. He sends prophets to speak to her.

He was poor yet making many rich. He prays for her. He draws her with loving kindness. This is the mind of Christ for His church. What about us?

What about you? When you think about a local church that you're part of, do you have the mind of Christ for the church, or are you just looking for something for yourself? Do your desires shape your relationships in the local church, or his desires? Do you want what you want, or do you want what he wants? We talked about that earlier today, Mike did in the sermon.

But Jesus identifies with and builds and prays for and cares for His church. He cares for His church. Now, we should always remember that the church was the only eternal institution that Jesus established. Neither the family nor marriage are eternal, but it's God's family that exists for all eternity. And so we should honor and cherish life in a local church.

And so as you're raising your family, here's my advice, make the local church the center of your life and love her the way that Christ loved her. Teach your children to love her the way that Christ loved her. Teach your children to love her the way that Christ loved her by giving himself up for her, by personally identifying with her, by building her, by having zeal for her, because to become like Christ is to love what he loves the way he loves it. And it's very clear that that's how Jesus loved his church. Okay, so my whole message this afternoon is really to say, help every person in your family to treasure the local church and to see the treasure that is a local church.

For example, when you take your kids somewhere, it's really important that you know why you are taking them and what you want them to see. A lot of kids here at this church right now. What do you want them to see? You know, there are two things that you need to do to accomplish this. And I think first of all, it's really important that you have a lifestyle all week long that makes the church the central part of your life.

It's not an add-on, it's not a convenience mechanism is the thing that you build your life around. Secondly, when you go to church, you need to be a good tour guide. Parents need to be good tour guides for the church. You shouldn't just take your children to church. You should take your children to church with a plan with an objective in Mind a plan to help them see the goodness of God the love of Jesus Christ the superiority of his kingdom And you know, this is what Christians do.

They run the race with goals in mind. Paul said, we're not just beating the air. We don't shadow box. We do things for intentionality and for a purpose. And we go to church with a self-conscious and God-conscious intentionality.

It's really important that families do that, particularly husbands and wives are locked and loaded to think that way about the church. Now remember, this is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the most important place you will ever take your children. I'm gonna say that again. The Church of Jesus Christ is the most important place you will ever take your children.

Amen. Amen. So know what it is and know what you're doing And be a good tour guide and help your children to see it lead them Engage them take them to the promised land Where the green pastures grow and the and the still waters flow help them to taste the milk and the honey open their eyes to see wondrous things from God's law. Make it such a glorious experience that they'll say, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of the Lord. Now here's the truth about children, especially when they're young.

They love to be inspired, and they love to go places. And their eyes are naturally wide-eyed when they're little. It's so much fun about raising little children. They just get so excited about so many things. And sometimes they can't even sleep.

They're so excited about what's going to happen the next day. So inspire them. Be an inspiration machine for your children regarding the local church. Get excited for the most important institution on the planet and put the central concern of God as the central concern of your life. And don't forget that your children are watching you.

You are the one that sets the tone for how joyous your family will be in coming to the gatherings of God's people in the church. So give them reason to be joyful. Let them see your own gratitude. For a day, a whole day set aside to delight in all the delights of the kingdom. You know, help them bring to mind the Lord's faithfulness in the way that He's cared for you all during the week, and then set this day aside as a holy day, Getting their minds ready and excited to learn what they're going to learn.

Now, here's the reality about tour guides. Not all tour guides have the same effect on the tourists. Some tour guides are so remarkably, rivetingly interesting. And some tour guides are blah. So don't be a blah tour guide of your children.

Don't just saunter on in with nothing on your mind, with no preparation beforehand. There are, there are delights waiting to be tasted. And the church really is the way that God has designed it the way that God has ordered the worship of God It's a cornucopia of opportunity So when you go to a church, here's what you get you get the most important institution the church you get the most important person Jesus Christ you get the most important book the Bible you get the most important people, the people of God. You get the most important activity, worship. You get the most important supper, the living bread and the cup of blessing, you get the most important delights, all the means of grace that God has given.

And if that were not enough, Jesus Christ Himself is personally present with His people. He's promised never to leave us or forsake us, and He is in our midst. He's walking among the lampstands of the churches. That's what we learn in Revelation chapter 1. In Hebrews, we learn that Jesus Christ Himself stands in the congregation with His people and He's not ashamed to call us brethren.

And He says, Here I am and the ones that you gave to me. And not only is the Lord Jesus present with us, we're brought into a diverse array of activities, all of them are life-giving, in what a local church does, particularly on the Lord's Day. Help your children get into it. Show them how wonderful it is to read the word of God and to hear the preaching. Help them.

They need help. Well, they are children, and as a result of being children, they need help. You know, help them to learn how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, to build up and encourage one another, to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice. Help them to experience all the great things that God has. In other words, seize the Lord's day.

The day was made for man and Isaiah tells us it was made for your delight. So make sure your children understand the rich and the diverse experiences that God has designed and help them to enter into each part. And they need your help. Walk with them to the living water and help them know and feel what worship is all about. Teach them that God has always gathered with His people to worship Him.

He's always brought His people together in consecrated places with holy moments. He's always done that from the very beginning. You see this right in the Garden of Eden itself, and then Adam and his family worshiping God and sacrificing. Help them to grasp the happiness of the moment. Well that's what David did.

He said, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of the Lord. He said, Blessed are those who dwell in your house. They will still be praising you. He said in Psalm 27, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Why?

To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple and make sure they understand the opportunity make it make it at an adventure take them into the delights of hearing and singing and praying and learning and responding and don't passively take them. You know, come with a purpose. Take aim, prepare them, be a great tour guide. Usher them into this institution with the happiness and the zeal that it was designed for. This is the body of Christ.

This is the city of God. This is the flock of God, the Church of the Living God. This is the pillar and ground of the truth. The temple of God and the people of God is where you bring your children. So like everything else, children need your encouragement and inspiration and your engagement, and they need your help.

And don't make the church of Jesus the place you just show up with your kids. God gave His church to be a treasure trove of experiences and relationships. And what a gift it is to be able to help your children to open up their eyes and see the treasure. So there you have it. Now I wanted to say all that And then I wanted to open it up.

And I'd like for us to just share together, you know, how we might be better at that as families. Maybe there are things that you do that would be really helpful to everybody else. But, you know, there are ways that we can help our children experience the treasures that are here even if they're unbelievers. Even if they're unbelievers the songs and the scriptures If they do turn to the Lord, we'll come back to them. And worst case scenario, those things may constrain their evil and help them at least see how good God is, even if they don't embrace Him, themselves, personally.

Okay, so I'm just going to throw it open. What are your thoughts?