Core Principles | Week One

By /

What Happens to a Church That Forgets the Fundamentals?

In the summer of 1961, Vince Lombardi walked into his first practice with a team of professional athletes who had played football for years, held up a football, and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” He wasn’t insulting them. He knew that championship teams are built on fundamentals, not forgotten but revisited. That story has stuck with me this week as I’ve thought about what it means for us as a church, because the Bible itself is full of reminders. Paul tells Timothy to “remind them of these things.” Peter says, “I intend always to remind you.” Jude says, “Now I want to remind you.” There are times we simply need to be reminded of what we believe.

That’s why we’re spending two weeks going back to the basics of who we are as Community Baptist Church, not because we’ve forgotten, but because, as I said Sunday, “It’s good for us as a church to have a renewed commitment.” The heart of it all comes down to this: what Christ loves, we ought to love, because as Ephesians 5:25 says, Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. She was, as Paul told the Ephesian elders, purchased “with his blood, his own blood.” What Christ values, we ought to value too.

Three Kinds of Churches We Don’t Want to Be

Before I got into what we do want to be, I wanted to name what we refuse to become. We don’t want to be an easygoing church, resting on decades of history and tradition while quietly dying, and “hundreds of churches die like that a week in the United States.” We don’t want to be a program-driven church either, one that mistakes busyness for godliness and wears people out chasing something on the calendar every night of the week. And we don’t want to be a copycat church, grabbing at whatever magic pill the latest conference is selling because we don’t know what else to do.

Here at Community, “we have never, ever, ever talked about, well, we want to be at 100. We want to be at 200.” We’re not driven by numbers. We’re driven by health. That means every one of us, myself included, ought to have our feet pointed in the right direction, praying, “God, would you help me to be what I ought to be by your grace and by your power?”

A Proper View of God

The first core truth is simple but weighty: we must have a proper view of God. He is the one “who has revealed himself to us.” We would know nothing of him otherwise. He has attributes we will never share, omnipotence, omnipresence, and attributes we’re called to reflect, love, forgiveness, grace. But I compared this to looking at a diamond. Some people want to zoom in on just one facet, God’s love, and stop there. “But you know what? He’s also just.” He’s a God of grace and a God of judgment, and we can’t limit God by just focusing on one of his attributes.

A Christ-Centered Ministry

Second, we want a Christ-centered ministry. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened the Scriptures “beginning with Moses… and all the prophets” and showed the disciples “the things concerning himself.” That means when we preach here, we’re not handing out self-improvement tips. “Christ ought to be the hero of every sermon,” not David, not Paul, not Peter. You’re saved by grace, and if you’re a Christian, “you are also sanctified by grace.” We partner, we surrender, we obey, but God is the one who works in us.

A Bible-Based Ministry

Third, we’re committed to being a Bible-based ministry, standing on 2 Timothy 3, that Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” That verse tells us what’s right, what’s wrong, how to make it right when we’ve drifted, and how to keep it right going forward. So bring your Bibles. Pick up a sermon card. Read the passage we text you on Saturdays. When culture asks us to define marriage, or manhood, or womanhood, “we’re going to say what does the Bible say.”

Prayer and Dependence on God

Fourth, prayer and dependence on God. In Acts 1:14, the early church “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer,” a word that means to persist, to persevere, to spend much time in something. Spurgeon, when asked the secret of his ministry’s success, said “it’s because my people pray for me.” I ask the same of you. Pray for your pastors on Saturday. Pray before you walk through these doors. Fill out a prayer card. We covet it.

Biblical Leadership

Last, biblical leadership. I asked the room a pointed question: “Who is the head of Community Baptist Church?” Even though my family and I started this church back in 2007, the answer isn’t me. Colossians 1 says Christ “is the head of the body.” Pastor John and I are under-shepherds, not the main shepherd. The Bible gives us two offices, elders and deacons, and deacons serve God by serving the people, which in turn frees pastors “to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

I’m 62 years old, and someday I’ll step aside as lead pastor here. “And guess what? I’m going to be okay with that.” My prayer is that Community Baptist Church will still be healthy long after I’m off the scene, because we’re committed to biblical leadership rather than one man. That’s why we’re adding pastors as we grow and why I’ve been training aspiring leaders toward that end.

Discussion Questions

  1. Pastor Mike said we can’t limit God by fixating on one attribute, like love, while ignoring his justice. Which attribute of God do you find easiest to forget, and why?
  2. In the Emmaus road story, Jesus showed the disciples that all Scripture points to him. How does knowing “Christ ought to be the hero of every sermon” change the way you read your Bible this week?
  3. The early church was “devoting themselves to prayer.” What would it look like for you personally to pray for your pastors and your church before you walk in next Sunday?

Folks, we’re not perfect at any of this, but by the grace of God we’re committed to it. If you’re here this morning and you’re not part of a church family, I’d simply ask you to find one you can agree with and submit yourself to, and know that we’re praying for you as you search. And if Community Baptist Church is where the Lord has you, then pray for your church, pray for your pastors, and let’s ask God together to help us be the church we ought to be.

We hope you enjoyed the sermon and would love to see you in person. Plan your visit to Community Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee today!

Plan A Visit
Scroll to Top