BULLETIN OUTLINE

Connectivity: You & Your Church Matthew 16:13-18, 21-23

Straight Talk!
09.21.14 Tom Oyler, Lead Pastor

Just mention the word - church.


How about the facts?

The focus is truth, not trends. (16:14-17)

Expect opposition, not popularity. (16:18, 21-23)

Gods agenda is first, not ours. (16:21-23)


LOOKING BACK
Connectivity: You & Your Church
Straight Talk! Matthew 16:13-18, 21-23

They pounded nails into His hands. After that, well, after that, everyone wore hats. For some reason, people
make a lot of assumptions about the church. Understandably so. The reality which is church calls for straight
talk. Only when we get it straight from Jesus and other NT writers rather than our own history, can we make
legitimate choices about our church! Most of us dont know what we are missing.

Thinking It Through

The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.
~Emil Brunner

Only the church can offer a community that was here before any of us were born, that will be here
after all of us die and that binds us to one another because it binds us to Christ.
~Robert Bellah

The most dangerous fault in America these days is the lack of interest in the truth.
~Henry Luce

Working It Out
1. What comes to mind when you think of church? What are some of your early memories?

2. What did Jesus say about the church in Matthew 16:13ff as stated in the message?
Which one caught your attention the most and why?
3. What are you expecting from this series and how interested are you in it? Honesty please!
LOOKING AHEAD
This Bible Study Guide is simple, yet profound. Simply look up the following references and then
answer the question, How do these verses answer the question, why should I bother with the local
church?

Try to make your answers as simple and profound as you can.

Matthew 16: 13-18


Acts 20:29


Ephesians 4:11-16


1 Timothy 3:14-16


1 Corinthians 12:12-27


Hebrews 10:24-25


Hebrews 13:17


Philippians 1:3-7



What questions do these verses raise in your mind reading you and your church?