Our Vision: Simple Christianity

Disney World

“It’s too bad that Walt Disney did not get to see this.”

“Oh, but he DID see this. It came about because he saw it in his mind before it was built.”

You’ve got to see it before you build it!

• “On this rock I will build my church…” --Mt 16:18

• The church is not about my preferences, but the Lord’s plan.

• The Lord may let us “decorate,” but we have to follow his blueprint plan for the church.

Luke 11:37-54

The Pharisee’s Way

• Right Rituals

• Legalistic Righteousness

• Show and Prestige

• Created Burdens

• Honored Dead Prophets

• Made God Distant

• Complexity

The Lord’s Way

• Right Relationships

• Justice and Mercy Count

• Humility

• Lifted Burdens

• Honored the Living God

• Made God Accessible

• Simplicity

Become Like a Child Burdens Lifted by Jesus

Simple, Humble, Innocent (Mt 11:28-30)

• The burden of sin

• The burden of complexity

The Simple Church Envisioned by Jesus

The Church Was to be Like Jesus:

• Simple

• Accessible

• Life-Giving

Yet many have “organized the church to death” and made Christendom more like the complex religion of the Pharisees than like the person of Jesus!

No wonder so many like Jesus, but not the church that they see!

Simple Christianity Implies

We want the Real Thing

• Original

• Genuine

• Authentic

Restoration – To put back into its original condition.

Simple Christianity Implies

An Unadorned Faith

• A plain, simple faith

• An “undecorated” faith

• No “cosmetics” needed

Simple Christianity Implies

An Unadulterated Faith

(Revelation 22:18-19)

• Pure

• Without additions

• Wholesome

The greatest harm to the

church has come from those

with good intentions who

combined the Christian faith

with other values.

I Corinthians 13:13 “Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love.”

• A simple faith

• A simple hope

• A simple love

Envisioning God’s Future for the Lassen Street Church of Christ

• Keep it Simple

• It’s HIS church—What does HE

want?

A artist was asked, “How do you do

such beautiful work?” “I see the completed sculpture in my

mind and chip away everything that does not fit that image.”

Let’s fix our eyes on the Lord’s image

of simple Christianity!