RECHARGE | The Church: Do I Really Need the Church?

A lot of us talk about church like a product: Did I like the music? Did the sermon hit? Do I “need” organized religion? In this message, we open Matthew 16 and Acts 2 to see what Jesus says the church actually is—and why God has no “Plan B” for taking the gospel to the world. 

In one sentence: Jesus builds His church on the truth of who He is, and He entrusts ordinary people with an eternal message that nothing—not even hell—can stop. 

Key Takeaways

• The church isn’t a consumer experience or a social club—it’s God’s plan for the gospel going to the nations. 
• Pentecost isn’t random: it’s God’s intentional “reversal” of Babel as the Spirit forms a people from every language. 
• Jesus uses “nobodies” to do work with eternal significance—declaring the good news and welcoming people into His family. 
• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper aren’t empty rituals; they’re church-family declarations of belonging and ongoing fellowship. 

Scripture: Matthew 16:13–19; Acts 2 (with Genesis 11; Exodus 32; Joel 2 referenced) 

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Transcript

Rethinking Church Culture

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This spring for recharge, I want I want to do a sermon series uh on uh the church. And I want you just for a second, I want to ask you to just think about how we we culturally speak about the church. How often you hear statements like, I don't need the church, right? I'm good, me and God got this thing. I sure don't need that organized religion. Or the the way that we often talk about uh how church was. Um we we kind of rate the worship experience when we go, yeah, I really liked worship today, or uh, you know, those songs just didn't particularly do it for me. Uh the way that we often think of church in regards to really the the preaching platform and the senior pastor, the one who does most of the preaching, right? I go to Chuck Swendah's church. That's that's the one I go to. Then I want you to think about how often we view uh church as a country club, right? It's it's based on kind of our our social network. It's a really good spot for me to make connections in the community, and uh uh you know uh that's that's my social network. We truthfully we we've become very consumer driven. Now, um I'm not trying to be naive uh or over overly idealistic. Um church can be messy. I I know you have experiences, you come across uh leadership in certain ways, and uh I I know uh in terms of getting fed, uh having your family uh fit and be able to be fed, I know all of those things. Um, so I'm not trying to be overly idealistic. But I do want us uh this spring, I want us to think about uh what scripture has to say about the church and really press our ideas of what we culturally experience and hold that up with scripture. So tonight in Matthew chapter 16, uh very famous, well-known scene, Jesus is in the region of Caesarea Philippi, and he's asking the disciples, who do you say that, who do people say that I am? And then he says to Peter, Who do you say that I am? Right? This is Peter's great confession. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus says to him, Hey, blessed are you, Simon of Barjona. Uh you didn't figure that out on your own. The Holy Spirit revealed that to you, right? Did not reveal it, but my Father who is in heaven. Then Jesus, looking at Peter, right, he says, next slide. I say to you that you are Peter. And upon this rock, right, the rock of the declaration of the truth he has just declared, that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon that truth of the identity of who Jesus is, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. I will give you, speaking about the church, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. I want to read one other passage to you, really gonna kind of paraphrase it. Um, in Acts chapter two, okay? I want uh I want to quickly give you an overview of Acts chapter two, because Acts chapter two is the birth of the church, right? It's the continuation, if you will, of this passage in Matthew chapter 16. So the day of Pentecost, the uh the disciples are together in an upper room. They are huddled up, they're afraid, but they are gathered in prayer. And on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell upon them. Right? This is the transition. The Holy Spirit is no longer in the temple in Jerusalem. When Jesus died, the temple uh curtain was torn in two, because now the Holy Spirit indwells the people of God. And there they all were, verse 4 of Acts chapter 2, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Okay? This this was it it was a supernatural sign that because the Spirit was upon them, they were able to speak. There was a loud rushing wind as the spirit fell, and it caused such commotion in the community that everyone gathered around there in Jerusalem where they were. They came to the house. I'm sure it sounded like to Ushla, like was there a car crash or something? Everyone's attention comes. So everyone wants to see what's going on. And apparently, either on a balcony or the disciples just begin to spill out, and as they do, they are speaking in other languages. And the audience there in Jerusalem, how is that we hear them in our own language to which we were born? Okay. Now, real quickly, I want to I want to take your attention all the way back to Genesis chapter 11. When you are reading your Bible, Genesis chapter 11 is the Tower of Babel. And man was supposed to spread out over the earth, but man got this better idea in his mind, and he said, Look, we're just gonna build a giant tower all the way to the heavens to prove that we are God. We're not gonna spread out like God said, we're gonna do what we want to do. And they so so they start constructing that tower, and God steps in, and God says, Look, mankind is obstinate. He's only gonna do what he wants to do. Let us confuse their languages so that they spread out. That's what happens at the Tower of Babel. Here at the giving of the church in Acts chapter 2, it's the opposite. It is the reversal of the Tower of Babel. It is the reversal of the confused languages. Now, suddenly, because of the Spirit of God, uh when the church shows up, suddenly Babel is completely undone. So Peter has everyone's attention. Back to Acts chapter 2. Peter has everyone's attention. The crowd says, these guys are drunk. What's going on? This is crazy. Peter's like, it's nine in the morning, okay? We're not drunk. And then Peter quotes for them, he says, Listen, listen, what is taking place here happened, is happening in the name of Jesus. Jesus that you crucified. He was resurrected from the dead, and he now sits at the Father's right hand, and everything that you're hearing and seeing is a result of Jesus. And then he stands up and he reads for them out of Joel. Listen to Joel, it's on the screen. And it shall be, this is out of Joel, and it shall be that in the last days God said, I will pour out my spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. And even on the male and female servants, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy, and I will display wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth below, blood, fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness. Real quick, you remember when Jesus was dying on the cross, that uh even though it was uh noonday, darkness came over the land. Okay? And the moon into blood, when the moon rose that night, it was in a blood moon. It was in uh it was in a uh lunar eclipse, it was a blood moon, okay? And there was an earthquake, right? All of that happened the day that Jesus died. Uh and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes, and it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So Peter stands up, he quotes Joel, he says, The power that we're doing this in is in the name of Jesus that you crucified. God raised him from the dead, he now sits at the Father's right hand, and this in Jesus' name is the power and the evidence for what is taking place. And it says, three thousand were saved on that day. Three thousand are baptized, they probably are probably at uh at the temple courtyard. Okay, three thousand are saved. The beginning of the church. I'm gonna make two quick points and I'm done. Number one, here's what I want you to see about the church from the very beginning that God is building his church, that God was doing this with intentionality. I showed you Babel and the way that the church coming is the undoing of Babel. Peter stood up and quoted Joel. Okay, did you know in Exodus chapter 32, at the giving of the um the first covenant with Moses, when Moses was up getting the Ten Commandments and the law, the people were down making a golden golden calf, and Moses came down and at the end of all of that account of the giving of the first of the giving of the first covenant, the law, 3,000 were killed on that day. Fast forward to the church, the Holy Spirit comes, the new covenant in the name of Jesus. 3,000 are saved that day. You think that's coincidence? No. Why? Because God is building his church. As Jesus said in Matthew 16, upon this rock, the identity of Jesus, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. The church is God's plan. There is no alternative plan. The gospel will go to the ends of the earth. The name of Jesus will be preached to every tribe, tongue, and nation. And God will save from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Because this is God's plan. Secondly, and then I'm done. I want you to think about the twelve disciples that are with Jesus. Who is Peter? He was a fisherman. He was an uneducated fisherman, as were a number of them. Matthew's a tax collector. Who are these guys? A bunch of nobodies. And Jesus looks at them and says, Listen, upon this truth, the truth of my name, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Do you marvel at that truth? That when the church gathers together, we are the church. Okay? When we, a bunch of nobodies, gather together in the name of Jesus. In fact, here he tells the church, whatever you bind on earth has already been bound in heaven. What is that saying? It's saying we have the eternal truth. The good news about the name of Jesus and what God has accomplished has been entrusted to the church. And eternal significance unfolds. On a daily, on a weekly, on a year-by-year basis. Anytime the church forms, and the church has the ability to declare that is the gospel. You are one of us. You are saved. Whatever's bound on earth has already been bound in whatever's loose. The church has that ability to declare. I want you to marvel at how magnificent there's no other plan that God put in place than when the church gathers, the church declares the truth, eternal truth, of who Jesus is and welcomes in. Did you know that the ordinances that the church that we have our ordinance for when we do church? Baptism is the declaration that you are in the family. And when we take the Lord's Supper together, you are declaring you're we're still in the family, we're still in fellowship. That is what we're declaring to one another. How amazing is this? This isn't a country club. Is it? Right? We're talking about an eternal declaration given to a bunch of nobodies. But it's the truth of who God is. Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we're amazed at your word and the trust that you have placed in us, and that you are moving for the glory of your name through your church. And we aim to be a faithful church that's based on your gospel and your word to be led by you, that you are the shepherd, King Jesus, uh, that you lead us through your spirit. And um, what an awesome, awesome privilege and responsibility that is. And uh help us to think well about your local church. We love you in Jesus' name. I pray. Amen.