LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT OUR CHURCH

 Explaining the Story, Statements, Structure and Strategy Of New Wine Church 

“THIS IS WHERE WE STAND”

By Pastor Tayo Adeyemi
New Wine Church, London

Sunday 14 August 2011

Foundation Scriptures: Matthew 16:18 & Habbakuk2: 2-3

You will recall that last week, we challenged ourselves about the importance of engaging dynamically with the prophetic word that God is sending to us in this season and learned that we must let these prophetic concepts dominate our thinking and our prayers. We are therefore continuing on our journey of understanding of the season that we have entered into, and from the standpoint that we can only really understand where we are going when we understand where we have been and indeed, where we currently are, we have been examining the story, statements structure and strategy of New Wine Church.
We looked at four key aspects of our identity as a church; the four things that unite us and make us unique: Our story (where we came from); our statements, (why we exist);  our structure, (what we look like) and our strategy, (how we function).
We have looked at the first aspect of our statements, our Mission Statement and learned that there are four dimensions of our vision as a church. The individual aspect of our vision: discover, develop and deploy, the local aspect, encapsulated in salt and light, the national aspect encapsulated in ‘for such a time as this’ and the  global aspect of our vision, encapsulated in the phrase ‘round the clock; round the world’.
Now today, we’re going to look at the other two aspects of our statements: our Statement of Faith and our Lifestyle Statement. Let’s start with our Statement of Faith, which speaks of what we believe. This is important as what we believe determines how we behave and therefore, our Statement of Faith informs our life.
1 Peter 3:15 tells us ‘if anybody asks why you believe as you do, be ready to tell him’. It is important for us to know not only what we believe, but also why we believe and therefore this is our Statement of Faith:
We believe  ...In one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the sustainer of all things, eternally existent in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
...In the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We believe that He was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a perfect, sinless life and died on the cross for the sins of mankind. He arose from the dead, appeared to many in His glorified body, ascended to heaven and will return to earth in power and glory. 
...In the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement, who brings about the new birth and dwells within believers, enabling them to grow in sanctification. We believe that the Holy Spirit is a real Person; and that all believers in Christ can enjoy His  fellowship, comfort, leadership, direction and empowerment in their daily lives.
...In the baptism of the Holy Spirit for all believers with the evidence of speaking in tongues and the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the assembly of believers.
...In the scriptures as the inspired and infallible word of God, given for the purpose of directing people to salvation.  They are authoritative, without error and the only basis of our faith and fellowship.
...In the salvation of mankind through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit.
..Man was created in the image and likeness of God; but fell from this state of glory through the original sin of Adam and Eve, thereby becoming sinful and depraved in nature.
..By turning from sin to repentance and believing in Christ and in His death and resurrection, people are born again into eternal life.
..In the church as the body of Christ whose task it is to take the gospel to all people in all nations and make disciples of them. The church consists of all persons who have become new creations through their faith in Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the church. In the ordinances of the church which are the Lord’s Supper and baptism by total immersion in water. 
...In divine healing as has been provided for by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.  All believers can claim the promise of divine healing by personal faith in Jesus Christ.
...In the consummation of all things, initiated by the imminent physical return of Jesus Christ to receive His church, the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the one to eternal life and the other to eternal damnation, and the establishment of God’s Kingdom forever.
On the understanding that what we believe determines how we behave, let’s look at our Lifestyle Statements. These are a product of our Mission Statement and our Statement of Faith and describe how we live out our Christian faith.  Our Lifestyle Statements are: Baptism, Communion, Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism and Ministry. We will look at the first three in detail today, and then we will examine the other four next week.
Baptism: This is one of the church ordinances, a practice ordained by Christ. In
Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus instructed us to make disciples of all nations ‘baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’.  Similarly in Mark 16: 15-15-16 He said ‘He who believes and is baptized will be saved’. It involves the immersion of a believer in water as an outward symbol of his faith. In the same way that a married person wears a wedding ring , they are not married because they wear a ring, rather, they wear a ring because they are married. Likewise, you are not saved because you got baptised; rather, you got baptised because you are saved. Remember what Jesus said in Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptised”. You believe first, then you get baptised; it is the symbolic outward manifestation of the inward experience of salvation.
All through scripture, baptism is always very closely linked with salvation and is an integral part of the great commission. There are many examples in scripture of people getting baptised; and in every case, it was by immersion. In Matthew chapter 3, Jesus Himself was baptised by John the Baptist, in Acts 8, Philip baptised the Ethiopian eunuch and in Acts 10, the entire household of Cornelius was baptised.
As believers, baptism represents our identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. When we get saved, we acknowledge that Jesus was crucified for us, that He died; He was buried and was resurrected for us. In baptism, we acknowledge that we were crucified with Him, that we died, were buried and were resurrected with Him. Romans 6:4(MSG) states ‘When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus.’ I recommend that you study Romans 6 3-11for a detailed explanation of the significance of baptism.
Communion: The second ordinance of the church, ordained by Jesus is communion. The term derives from the Greek word ‘koinonia’ which means fellowship or association, signifying partnership, agreement and a state of giving and receiving. The origins of Communion can be found in the book of Exodus, when God commanded the children of Israel to eat the Passover, to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt. In the New Testament, Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion, breaking bread and sharing wine with them, instructing them to continue to do this in remembrance of Him. The broken bread represents the body of Jesus, which was broken for us; the wine represents the blood of Jesus, which was shed for us (See 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26).Under the Old Covenant, they celebrated an event; but today, under the New Covenant, we celebrate a Person.
Each time we take communion there are a number of important things that should be undertaken: Firstly,  it is an opportunity for self-examination as 1 Corinthians 29-29 encourages us to do. Unfortunately, this scripture is often misinterpreted to mean; “If you are unworthy, don’t dare participate!” whereas in fact, it says examine yourself; then eat the bread and drink the cup. It means we should quickly examine ourselves and if we need to repent of anything, we should do so quickly and then partake in communion. Secondly, when we partake of communion, it is important that faith is released, otherwise, it’s just a mere religious ritual and it will be of no benefit. Consider what the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus means and then believe God for something specific – a healing, deliverance, a miracle or a breakthrough, connect it to something you want God to do. I have seen people healed of incurable diseases and delivered from demonic oppression while taking communion. Thirdly, when you partake of communion, reflect on its significance and undertake a threefold look – a backward look, an upward look and a forward look. Look back in appreciation as you reflect what Jesus did when He died on the cross (1 Corinthians 11: 26), look up in adoration and reflect on what Jesus is doing now for you - He is making intercession for you at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34), and look forward in anticipation and reflect when you will be with Jesus and partake of communion in heaven (Matthew 26: 29).
Worship:  As children of God, worship is our number one priority.  We were not created to have careers or big houses or exciting hobbies or nice families, we were created to worship God. In fact, the bible makes it clear that God is looking for true worshippers (John 4: 23-24) and He will effortlessly bypass 100 people playing church for a true worshipper.  There are different styles of worship.  It’s not wrong to worship differently from other believers as long as it is in spirit and in truth.
At New Wine Church, our worship is: celebrative, reflective/contemplative and expressive. Celebrative worship speaks of the gladness, exuberance and joy that accompany our worship. As children of God, regardless of our circumstances, we always, always have something to celebrate, something to be glad about. Psalm 100 instructs us ‘Serve the Lord with gladness and come before His presence with singing , enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name’.
Reflective worship speaks of the contemplation that accompanies our worship as we meditate and reflect on who God is, what He means to us and what He has done for us. There is an aspect of worship where we are quiet before God and make ourselves available to Him like a waiter would wait on a guest at a restaurant.
Expressive worship speaks of the triumphant and demonstrative aspect of our worship, whether it’s in the clapping of hands, or in shouting or in confession. Psalm 47 instructs us ‘Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!’ and in Psalm 66: 1-2 ‘Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!  Sing out the honour of His name; Make His praise glorious.’
Psalms 95:1-2 says ‘Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.’ If you study those scriptures closely, you will see that there is a strong correlation between expressive praise and victory over the enemy. As the account of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 demonstrates, our worship is an act of warfare, confounding the forces of darkness. I challenge you therefore to determine to be nothing less than that which God is seeking, a true worshipper.