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Not Improving on Our Instructions
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Not Improving on Our Instructions calls the Christian church to return to its primary task and purpose, as outlined in the Gospels, Acts, and the New Testament Letters. In a series of sermons, Edmund Neufeld reflects on Christ’s instructions to his followers and addresses this central question: What is the one most important thing for the church to do?
Years of pastoring and teaching have left Neufeld convinced that the most important thing that Christ has left his church to do is to love one another. He leads readers on a journey of rediscovering the heart of the gospel—practical, unifying love within the body of Christ. It is this love, faithfully lived out in community, that will draw nonbelievers to the gospel.
Not Improving on Our Instructions may change your assumptions about righteousness, your neighbour, and what it means to be great in the kingdom—but it won’t change your instructions. God urges his people to rise to their calling and be his new society.
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Table of Contents
THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT LETTERS. . . . 9
Sermon 1. . . . 9
Our Instructions: What Is God’s Priority? (1 Thess 4; Heb 6; 1 Peter 4; 1 John 4)
THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN MATTHEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Sermon 2. . . . 17
The Beatitude Church: Matthew’s Foundation (Matt 5)
Sermon 3. . . . 25
The Father’s Will: Jesus Warns the Apostles (Matt 7)
Sermon 4. . . . 33
Body Life Is Family Life: Brothers and Sisters in Matthew (Matt 5–28)
Sermon 5. . . . 43
Great in the Kingdom: Serve One Another (Matt 7, 18, 20, 23; Luke 22)
Sermon 6. . . . 51
The Two Great Commands: Who Is My Neighbour? (Matt 22)
Sermon 7. . . . 58
Who Do I Say I Am? The Great Declaration of Deity (Matt 28)
THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN JOHN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Sermon 8. . . . 67
Love Each Other: New Command and Last Command (John 13)
Sermon 9. . . . 74
Bearing Fruit: How Do We Remain in Jesus? (John 14–15)
Sermon 10. . . . 81
That the World May Know: One as We Are One (John 17)
Sermon 11. . . . 88
Do You Love Me? Feed My Lambs (John 21)
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THE CHURCH’S MISSION IN LUKE AND ACTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Sermon 12. . . . 95
The Good Samaritan: Loving Our Enemies (Luke 10)
Sermon 13. . . . 102
The Second Lost Son: A Welcoming Church (Luke 15)
Sermon 14. . . . 109
Preserving the Story: Twelve Eyewitnesses (Acts 1)
Sermon 15. . . . 118
The Miracle of Pentecost: God’s Plan for the Age in One Day (Acts 2)
Sermon 16. . . . 126
The Mission of the Church: What Is It? What Is It Not? (Acts 4–6)
THE LETTERS AGAIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Sermon 17. . . . 135
Three Kingdom Warnings: What Not to Do (1 Cor 6; Gal 5; Eph 5)
Sermon 18. . . . 143
Hospitality A Welcome in the Lord (Rom 16; Tts 3; 3 John; Heb 13; 1 Cor 11)
CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Looking Back: Highlights
APPENDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Annual Covenant of Membership With Explanation
Annual Covenant of Membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Endnotes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Discussion Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
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