Vince Lombardi famously started his 1961 season with the Green Bay Packers by going back to the fundamentals. They were professional football players, but Lombardi started all the way back at the beginning, assuming they knew nothing and purposing to master the basics before moving on to trick plays: this is how you block; this is how you tackle. He started that speech by saying, “Gentlemen, this is a football,” and then just explained it little by little. Well, six months later they won the championship, and Lombardi went on to become one of the best coaches in football history. Hello, church. I wanted to review some of the basics. If you are new here, my name is Ryan Rench, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula, California. We recently finished our New to CBC class for our new members, and I wanted each member to realize that a church, at its most basic fundamentals, has just a few key things that we do. This is what we are.
The Gospel
In our class we started with the gospel. Matthew 28:18 says, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” What are we about? Well, we as a church are about the preaching of the gospel to every creature. We are to see people saved, baptized, and discipled in the Scriptures. This is a football. This is the basics of what a church is.
The Word of God
Another fundamental is that the Word of God is the focus of our assembly times. 1 Timothy 4:13 says, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” Reading, that is the public reading. So we simply go verse by verse through the Scriptures, we exhort people to live by them, and we study the systematic doctrines of the Word of God. This is a football. These are the basics.
The Body Edifies Itself
Next, as a body, we sharpen each other. Ephesians 4:16 says, “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” So the body edifies itself in love. We care for one another. We are not just a collection of individuals. It is not a one-man show. It is not a top-down mentality, but we are all in this to edify one another. That is the basics of a church. This is a football. This is what church is.
We Assemble Together
Then, because of that, another foundational truth is that we assemble together. Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Then the second “let us” statement, and these are what we are commanded to do. Verse 23: “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” And the third: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” And the way we do that is verse 25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” So those “let us” statements are like the commands. We are to be people of doctrine, people who regularly strengthen our faith, people who provoke each other to a more vibrant walk with God, to love and to good works. So those are the commands, and in order to do the things we are commanded to do, we assemble. We do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. So the assembly is not technically the command. It is more or less implied that believers who want to do what God tells them to do will assemble in order to do all the things they are commanded to do, and they will assemble so much the more as they see the day approaching. So we encourage people to come to all the services, and we still have a midweek Wednesday night service and a Sunday night service, so people can keep on growing and staying obedient to do the things God has told them to do. That is one of the foundational truths. Gentlemen, this is a football. Assembly with the church is one of those basics that feeds the rest of the plays, so to speak.
The Gifting of the Holy Spirit
The last fundamental I will mention is the gifting of the Holy Spirit for each individual church member. We serve each other according to 1 Corinthians 12:1–11. Verses 1 through 3 say, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” Apparently there were those who were just spewing heresy and saying, “Oh, the Holy Spirit told me this,” and he is saying no. Just because somebody says it is the Holy Spirit, that does not make it true, because he says at the end of verse 3 that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, meaning the Holy Ghost is going to lead you in line with perfect doctrine. Verse 4: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” When we are unified around the Spirit, we are not uniform. We are not all the same. There are diversities of gifts, and there are differences of administrations. Gifts and administrations, different words for the same thought. The Trinity is seen here. Verse 5: “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.” And verse 6: “And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” So the Spirit, and Lord, and God, and all the different ways He works, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. Verse 7: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” So the Holy Spirit gifts every individual for the purpose of profiting everybody. His goal is that He uses you to help other people. Here is an example of some of the different giftings the Holy Spirit gives, verses 8 through 10: “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” So he mentions some of those sign gifts that were used in the early founding of the church, and many of those are done away today, but he is making the point that there is a broad variety of gifts given. But verse 11 is the key: “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” Okay, it is coming from one source, but he says, “dividing to every man severally as he will.” That word severally is the Greek word idios, where we get our word idiosyncrasies. We had camp T-shirts that said “Idiots Unite.” I mean, we are all idiots in our own unique way. We are all completely unique people, and the Holy Spirit has uniquely gifted each and every one of us, but we are to be united around the Holy Spirit, who is unifying all of us toward this goal of edifying and building up the church. The Holy Spirit has given us unique gifts to be able to benefit, to bless, and to help other people. So those are some of the core, foundational, fundamental truths that make us church members. Gentlemen, this is a football.
A Few Practical Tips
Then I gave a few closing practical tips, just a few random tips for our church members, which I will hit now in rapid fire. These might be helpful to a few folks. The first tip: you cannot rely on the pastor for everything. You are your own Christian, uniquely endowed by the Holy Spirit, with your own mind and your own giftings. There is not going to be a checklist you follow to be a member of Calvary Baptist Church in good standing. We will preach the Word, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth, and we will try to help you understand what that truth is, but it is not going to be a checklist to follow. Another good tip is just to come to everything. Some people feel very disconnected, but they do not come to anything, and so one way to just jump into the core is to be a part of everything that is offered. Another way is just to jump into some areas. In some of the previous weeks we talked about the different ministries of the church, and I am just encouraging people: yeah, jump into choir, jump in and volunteer as an usher, jump into the orchestra if you play an instrument. Just find some way you can immediately jump in and start serving. Another tip we received from Brother John Waterl, a pastor out in Oklahoma. He taught us this several years ago, and I have never forgotten it. He said, “If you are offended, that is good. It means you are part of the family.” You do not get offended about what some random stranger says about you, because you do not care about what he has to say. But if you get offended, most likely it is going to be because you put some weight on the words of the person who offended you. So if you are offended at church, that is a good thing. It means you are part of the family. It means you can learn to follow Matthew chapter 18, solve your differences biblically, and be able to move past those things. So those are just a few tips and tricks and a few ideas of the core fundamentals of what it is to be a church member. This is a football. God bless you, and we will see you in the next video.
