Preacher: Rev. Dr. Lou Saldiveri | Series: Sunday Morning Worship

— Pastor Lou’s Notes —
Intro: During these past five weeks, we looked at what it means to be a church member from a biblical point of view. In the first week, we looked at two different ways of viewing membership in a church. If we believe that church membership is like joining a country club, then we will expect that the organization serves us and our needs. If we view church membership from a biblical basis, we discovered that church membership involves an attitude of humility and the willingness to serve others using the spiritual gifts God gives to us.

I would like to ask you a question. If someone gave to you a 5.60 carat blue nile diamond as a free gift, would you value that free gift or would you be calreless with it? By the way, I looked up that diamond and it is worth about $238,000.00. Someone thought so much of you that he or she spent a fortune on you as a gift.

The Bible is very clear that the church is a gift of God’s infinite grace to us as Christ followers. You see, the church cost God the very life of His Son. We ought to honor our veterans and our fallen military and law enforcement who made sacrifices. For some made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives to protect our freedom. How much more should we honor God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who gave us the priceless gift of the church?

Today, I want to explore the fact that the church is a gift of grace from God and ought to be treasured.

Jesus gives to the church the gift of the Holy Spirit
Salvation: Gift 1
The need
The price
The love
The recieving of the gift
The Church: Gift 2
Unity of the Spirit
Power of the Spirit
Teaching of the Spirit
Loving Obedience Through The Gifts of the Spirit
Illustration of a Boeing 747: maximum take off weight of 970,000 lbs made of numberless parts that in and of themselves cannot fly. But when are are all put together correctly and working in unity, this heavy bird can fly like an eagle. The church is a powerful force when it is treasued as a gift by all its members and we all work together in unity.

Closing: The pledge in chapter 6. Let’s celebrate the Lord’s Table.