Key Verses and Quotes from the Sermon “Church 101”

Core Scripture Texts

Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation.'”
1 Corinthians 3:11: “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.”
Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
John 7:37-39: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”

1 Corinthians 12:12-27: (Key theme: Unity, diversity, and interdependence in the one body of Christ).

Ephesians 2:21: “In whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Peter 2:5: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Hosea 2:19: “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.”
2 Corinthians 11:2: “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.”
Ephesians 5:25-27: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
Revelation 19:7-8: “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.”

Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

“The true church of Christ does not need a legal registration to be the church… The body of Christ exists independent of all that legal paraphernalia.”
“What is the church?… ‘It is the people who love God and keep his commandments.'” (Quoting E.G. White, Upward Look p. 315).
“Where two or three are present who love and obey the commandments of God, Jesus there presides.” (Quoting E.G. White).

William Temple: “The church is the only society in human history that exists for the benefit of non-members.”
“We exist so that God’s blessings might radiate through us into our community… The water is only living when it’s flowing.”
“We are called out of the world to meet our Lord and Savior. And then he sends us back into the world.”

“The preacher is no more important than the greeter at the front door… Everybody is needed to have a healthy, functional church.”
“If you don’t use your talents for God’s glory, you’re going to face eternal judgment… Your local church is weaker as a result.”

“Christ is the meeting place between God and man. And the church is to be the place where people meet with Christ.”
“God’s going to have to shave some sharp edges off you… I must be willing and ready and able to bear my fair share of the load.”
“Your value is reckoned by the price paid… the blood of the Son of God.”

“Don’t just be a seventh-day Adventist… Be a 7-day Adventist. Allow the word of God to change you every single day.”
“The church must remain pure and faithful to her one husband, Jesus Christ… She can never say, ‘We have no king but Caesar.'”
E.G. White: “Christ is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts of men… When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.”

“My experience of the church is this: As I grow closer to Christ, so I grow closer to everybody else who is also being drawn closer to Christ.”
“Our witness is not in our perfect doctrines or impressive structures, but in our self-sacrificing love.”
“Let’s live and honor and be all that the church of Christ is called to be.”