Who Are We?

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

Acts 2:1-8

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

Who are We?

Last week, I talked a lot about myself. I did that on purpose, but I won’t do it often; though I am the main speaker here, this service doesn’t have any more to do with me than it does with you. We are here as the church.

So who are we?
I’ve been meeting you – trying to learn your names (please forgive me as I ask your names again and again), and finding out who’s related to whom. I also spent some time this week looking through old documents and pictures that I found in the church office. I saw a bulletin from the 1964 dedication service of the Millersport Evangelical United Brethren Church – that’s where we get the "United" in United Methodist, by the way, from the merger between Evangelical United Brethren and the Methodist Church. I saw the original blueprints of this building and read the 1990 doctrinal statement and purpose statement.

But who are we? We are the Millersport United Methodist Church.

• Millersport: the town we are in – founded by Mathias Miller in 1825 on the Ohio-Erie Canal.


• United: traces our heritage to the Evangelical United Brethren Church, formed by the 1946 merger of the Evangelical Church with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.


• Methodist: John Wesley founded a movement within the Anglican church, a movement characterized by the methodical nature by which its participants "attended to the ordinances of God" – which earned them the mocking term "Methodist."


• Church: yeah, we’re a church, too.

What does it mean to be a church? When I was a little kid, I learned that "here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people." Of course, if you messed up and didn't clasp your fingers in the right way, it would end up being "open the door and break your fingers."

This was not a helpful way to learn who the church was, because (besides the potential risk to your fingers) the church is the people. In a hymn in our hymn book called "We are the Church," the first verse goes like this: The church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is a people.

So what kind of people are we?
If we look back to Acts 2, we find out about the birth of the church. On that day, when people from all over were all together for a holiday gathering, the Holy Spirit showed up.
Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, took the opportunity to teach about Jesus. He ended his message by telling them to repent and be baptized, to save themselves from a corrupt generation. And on that day, about 3000 people accepted Jesus’ gift to them.

The church was characterized by what its people did. Remember, there were no "church buildings" yet. It wasn’t until the 3rd century that Christians owned specific property for the purpose of worship.

Since the word "church" was used well before the 3rd century, it must be more than the building!

Here’s what happened:
Christ followers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

So what does it mean to be a church?
The Greek word that we translate "church" is ekklesia. This word’s comes from a word meaning "to call out." The ekklesia was originally the assembly of people who gathered to make political decisions, but (get this) the ekklesia only existed when it gathered.

When we move from the political ekklesia to the biblical concept, we find a group that is characterized by its purpose: to hear the word of God and to worship. In fact, the ekklesia was usually called He ekklesia tou theou: the Church of God – God is the source and origin of the church’s life and existence, summoning men and women to himself through the preaching of Christ crucified and forming them into his ekklesia. God’s act of founding the ekklesia is mediated through Jesus Christ and his gospel.

If you get nothing else from this message, then get this: Jesus Christ is central to church. Apart from Jesus, we're wasting our time. Sure, we can do some good things, but if Jesus isn't central, they're not good enough.

The Bible uses several metaphors to talk about God’s people.
It speaks of God’s people as His Temple. Just as the Temple in Jerusalem was known as the dwelling place of God’s glory, we, as the church, are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. God’s dwelling place is not apart from us, but in us! Furthermore, the Temple is only whole when it is unified.

Again, this doesn’t mean that we are clones, but it means that we find our unity in God, our source, in Christ, who died for us, and in the Holy Spirit, who empowers us.

The Bible also speaks of God’s people as a Body. The local church and the church international both constitute this Body with Jesus Christ as the Head. Just as our brains control our bodies, so should Jesus Christ control the church. What’s more, this underscores our need for unity – we’re all in this together. If one part of the body hurts, the rest suffers as well (if you sprain your ankle, you limp. If you limp for a while, your knees, hips, back, and other leg will start hurting, too).

This is true in the church as well. When one member suffers, so does the rest of the body. If you have secret (or not-so-secret, for that matter!), unrepented sin, it doesn't just hurt you; it hurts the whole body.

Also, if you are hurting and don't let anyone know, you are depriving those with spiritual gifts of using those gifts! Think about it: someone with the gift of encouragement should be allowed to encourage. Just like - I'll always offer the chance for an offering, because some people have the gift of giving, and to not give them the chance to do so would be to deprive them of using their spiritual gift - thus hurting the whole body!

The Bible also speaks of God’s people as Family. You’ve probably heard that you get to pick your friends but you’re stuck with your family. This is true for church, for better or for worse. You have family members who you love to be around. I am one aunt’s favorite, and she makes it clear that she likes me best. I’ve always liked to be around her. But there are other family members who are less pleasant to be around. I won’t give those details about my family right now! Figuring out how to deal with them is important, and showing them love is vital for our mission.

So what does this all matter?

God calls us together for a purpose. We are meant to do life together; to encourage each other and help point one another toward Jesus Christ. When we meet together, we meet with Jesus Christ, and our gatherings should be centered around Him. And we get to celebrate together what God has been doing for us all week.

So let’s continue the celebration!