Just as a fruit cake needs the right ingredients to excel so there are some key ingredients of an ideal local church. Some of the things many Christians look for in a local church are not evident in Paul's recipe. He doesn't mention anything about a charismatic pastor, the style of worship, the musical accompaniment, the age structure, the range of activities provided or the nature of the building. We can consider his recipe for an ideal church under five headings:

(1) Mutual consideration and support. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself. v1and2.

So, mutual consideration and support consists of:

(a) The strong bearing with the weak.

Christianity stands in stark contrast to Darwinism. Darwin's theory of evolution is founded on the survival of the fittest. This idea was taken up by the Nazis who aimed to create a super race by eliminating the weak, handicapped, mentally ill and inferior.

The survival of the fittest is the principle underlying competitive sport and the knock out competitions so popular on TV.

We see a very different approach in the behaviour of a mother walking beside her toddler. How slowly she walks. From time to time she takes her toddler by the hand or picks him up after one of his tumbles. The mother is making allowances for her little boy.

This should be the attitude of the strong Christian to those immature in the faith. Mature Christians should be like Mr Great-heart in Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress. He shepherded some very weak Christians to the Celestial City including: Mr Feeble-mind, Mr Ready-to-halt, Mr Despondency and his daughter, Much-afraid. This is how Mr Great-heart reassured Mr Feeble-mind: Brother I have it in my commission to comfort the feeble-minded and to support the weak. You must needs go along with us; we will wait for you; we will lend you our help; we will deny ourselves some things .... for your sake; we will be made all things to you, rather than you shall be left behind.

Christianity is not about producing a super spiritual elite. It is about the common good - maintaining the health and effectiveness of the body as a whole.

In a local church there are plenty of weaker brethren who among other things: doubt their salvation, are bedevilled by re-occurring problems, worry over trivialities, are hindered by their temperaments, are over-sensitive, struggle with some aspects of church like public prayer, keep slipping back into old habits, find it difficult to understand the Bible, are easily discouraged, lack confidence and believe nothing they do is good enough for God.

The strong Christian will not despise the weak and mix with them as little as possible but bear with them and help them in their immaturity.

(b) The strong do not please themselves but try and build up the weak.

This is what a good school teacher does. He must avoid showing off his knowledge and putting his pupils down by demonstrating how inferior they are. The teacher builds up the weak by clear explanations, increasing knowledge and understanding, developing skills, encouraging and restoring confidence.

The strong Christian should be doing the same sort of thing for weak Christians: teaching, explaining, supporting and encouraging. Mr Great-heart helped poor old Mr Ready-to-halt to put one foot in front of the other.

An evangelistic campaign in Tulsa, USA, resulted in a man and his girl friend making a commitment to Jesus. The couple were members of a motor cycle gang who drank heavily and used drugs. The man's name was James Reed. He and his girl were baptised and later married in the pastor's living room. James and his wife faced a bitter struggle to break free from their old life. They were often tempted to go back to the motor cycle gang only to return for a time to the church. Eventually the young man who led James and his wife to Christ told them to move into the apartment next door to him. After they complied their friend would knock on the bedroom wall each morning at 6 am and shout out, "Get up, it's time for prayer and Bible study." Every evening they would all get together for another session of instruction from God's word. Did this regime work? Today James Reed is a SBC missionary in Uganda.

We all accept that little children need nurturing. They require much care and attention. Why aren't we prepared to take the same amount of trouble in training and disciplining new converts to Christianity?

(2) Reliance on Scripture. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope .... . v4.

Paul describes the three-fold benefit of relying on Scripture:

(a) It encourages.

The Bible is full of encouragements:

• God keeps his promises. The Israelites did take possession of the land promised to the Patriarchs. In the fullness of time the Saviour promised long was born in Bethlehem.

• God is committed to his people. The book of Judges is the account of God coming to the rescue of his wayward people over and over again. One mighty deliverer after another was raised up to consolidate Israel's conquest of Canaan. Seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar took so many Jews into exile God paved the way for their return to their own land.

• God can bring good out of evil. This is wonderfully illustrated in the life of Joseph. The apostle Peter realised that this happened at the crucifixion of Jesus: "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead." Acts2v23.

• God's redemptive purpose - foreshadowed by the Passover and the sacrificial system.

• God's purposes cannot be thwarted. Many wicked men attempted without success to thwart the purposes of God: Pharaoh, Haman, Herod the Great and the members of the Sanhedrin. When the Sanhedrin stepped up their persecution of the early church all they succeeded in doing was to disperse Christians and spread the word more widely.

• The triumphs of faith. Heb11 is a wonderful account of what has been achieved by faith in God. The writer urges the reader: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us ..... . Heb12v1.

The Bible is undoubtedly the most encouraging book in existence. I like the story of the old flower lady. She sat at her usual place outside the cathedral on Easter Sunday selling button holes and posies. Her wrinkled old face was alive with some inner joy. As one of the worshippers left the cathedral he stopped, bought a flower, and put it in his button hole. He said to the old lady, "You look happy this morning."

She replied, "Why not? Everything is good."

This surprised her customer seeing as how old and shabby she looked. He said, "You've been sitting here many years haven't you - always smiling. You don't let your troubles get you down."

The old lady said, "You can't reach my age and not have troubles but when they come I remember Jesus and Good Friday. Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and that was the worst day for the whole world. But only three days later on Easter Sunday he arose. So when I get troubles I've learned to wait three days and somehow everything gets all right again.

What a huge encouragement the Easter story is to us. When we have trouble we should always give God time enough to help.

(b) Hope is an outcome of encouragement.

When I taught A level Geography I discovered how important encouragement was in giving pupils hope of getting a good grade in their final exam. If a student got too discouraged and had no hope of eventual success there was always the possibility he or she would give up and drop out of the class.

Poor John Clare, the Northamptonshire peasant poet, was cursed with a sense of his own inferiority. Prior to the publication of his first book of poems he needed to canvass for subscribers. A definite number of advance sales had to be secured to satisfy his prospective publisher. Clare visited the Dolphin Inn at Stamford one dinnertime to hand out samples of his work. No one expressed much interest and the poet grew progressively more depressed and embarrassed. Another customer came in and Clare handed him a sonnet. The customer read it, treated Clare to a drink and praised the quality of the sonnet. He readily agreed to be a subscriber and said that he didn't doubt but that Clare's work would be a great success. Suddenly the colour of the world changed for John Clare. The unexpected encouragement gave him heart and did him more good than all he, 'ever met with before and after.' John Clare never forgot the name of the Rev. Thomas Moursey, master of Stamford Free Grammar School - his first subscriber.

There is absolutely no doubt a good knowledge and understanding of Scripture will strengthen our hope of one day coming into an inheritance that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us. See 1Pet1v3to5 and Rom8v37to39.

(c) Endurance is the offspring of hope.

Endurance is not just grim determination but an attitude that relishes taking on the challenges of the Christian life. It rejoices in overcoming difficulties.

This week I read the Daily Telegraph obituary of John James. He set up the Mole Valley Farmer's Co-operative in Devon to fight for better prices for livestock feed, tools and equipment. Some of the big names in agriculture who didn't want their profit margins cut resisted his efforts. But James - a man of guile and sheer bloody-mindedness - relished such challenges. He had hope of final victory and it gave him endurance.

And if we have hope of eventual victory it will enable us to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

It should be clear that for Paul church growth was not just about a fellowship growing in size; it was also about Christians growing better. The ministry of the word should foster this kind of growth as the saints are encouraged, take hope and endure.

(3) Unity. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. v5and6.

Unity is a key characteristic of the ideal church - yet how often we fail to display it. I have written several times on how prone the church is to divide over trivial issues. There are examples without end! In 1917 a Convocation of Russian Orthodox bishops engaged in a rancorous, ill-tempered, divisive debate. A few doors down the street another meeting was taking place. A group of Bolsheviks plotted revolution and the overthrow of the Czar. What was the church arguing about while the communists were preparing to take over Russia and suppress Christianity? The bishops were getting all hot under the collar about candles! Should they be 18 inches or 22 inches long!

All Christians should be united in:

(a) A common purpose. As you follow Jesus .... .

Christians should be united in:

• Common dependence upon the saving work of Jesus. They should all be in communion with one another.

• Obedience to Christ's teaching.

• Following his example.

• Serving his interests - reaching the unsaved and feeding his sheep.

• Working together - as all the different parts of the body work together for the good of the whole.

  A church had to make the difficult decision about cutting down a big, shady tree in the chapel car park. One elderly man argued passionately for the preservation of the tree which he had known from childhood. (We have a tree just like that in our car park!) It was almost an old friend. However the decision went the other way. On the day a group of volunteers met to cut the tree down the objector was the first one to show up. Someone said, “I thought you didn’t want that tree cut down.” The elderly saint replied, “I don’t, but WE decided to cut it down, so I’m here to help.” That is the sort of attitude that results from a commitment to unity.

We bring glory to God:

• In heartfelt gratitude. Our hearts should be overflowing with gratitude to God for the indescribable gift of his own dear Son.

  In the town of Port Hope, Canada, there is a monument to a poor, unselfish, working man who devoted most of his life and energy to helping those who could not replay him.

  Joseph Scriven was born in Dublin in 1820. As a university graduate he seemed to have the world at his feet but on the eve of his wedding his beautiful bride to be accidently fell into a pond and drowned.

  The shock was almost too much for Joseph. He travelled to forget his sorrow. Eventually he settled in Canada where he spent the last forty-one of his sixty-six years. He became a devout Christian and did manual jobs to support poor widows and sick people.

  Joseph Scrivener was not known to possess any poetic gifts but after his death a close friend discovered a poem he had written to his mother in a time of sorrow not intending that anyone else should see it.

  The poem was Joseph Scrivener's gift to the world. We all know and love it. It conveys our heartfelt appreciation of all Jesus has done for us and is to us.

  What a friend we have in Jesus,
  All our sins and griefs to bear!
  What a privilege to carry,
  Everything to God in prayer!
  Oh, what peace we often forfeit!
  Oh what needless pain we bear!
  All because we do not carry,
  Everything to God in prayer.

• By what we say: how we sing, how we pray and how we talk about Jesus.

If we concentrate on following Jesus and bringing honour to God some of the things that divide us can be relegated to the periphery. All sorts of issues will be of secondary importance.

C.S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters which was a narrative between an arch-devil and his supposed nephew, ‘Wormwood’. Screwtape advises his nephew on how to make the church a stumbling block to a new Christian's spiritual development:

‘The church is a fertile field if you just keep them bickering over details, structure, organization, money, property, personal hurts and misunderstandings. One thing you must prevent: don’t let them ever look up and see the banners flying, for if they ever see the banners flying then you have lost them forever’. Perhaps Lewis is referring to: He bought me into the banqueting house and his banner over me was love. SofS2v4. It is a pity the church is not more like a banqueting house festooned with banners - tokens of love for the Master of the feast.

(4) Inclusiveness. Accept one another, then, as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Jesus came to earth to benefit both Jews and Gentiles. John informs us in his gospel: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son. Jesus died to atone for the sins of all. In the words of the chorus I used to sing in Sunday School as a boy:

Jesus died for all the children, all the children of the world;
Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight,
Jesus died for all the children of the world.

I can remember asking a cousin of mine why he had changed churches. His daughter piped up: "There were just too many old fogies at our former church." In Britain there are churches that are made up of predominantly young people and many others that are the preserve of the aged. This is NOT in the will of God.

Fifty years ago the congregation of some Grace Baptist churches in Suffolk consisted of 3 or 4 extended families. If you upset one member of the family you upset them all!

One of the saddest failures of the Christian church is its inability to eradicate racial and tribal divisions. Rwanda in Africa seemed by the early 1990's to be a success story for Christian missionaries. About 98% of the population claimed to be Christian. Yet in 1994 Hutu militias targeted Tutsis, resulting in a 100-day death toll of between 800,000 and 1 million. Christians slaughtered Christians. An Anglican bishop who went to Rwanda to appeal to the tribal leaders to stop killing each other asked them: "Which is more significant to you: The waters of your Christian baptism or the bloodlines of your tribes?" Without a moment’s hesitation they said, "The bloodlines of our tribes." When it came to the crunch membership of God's family counted for less than membership of a tribe.

It is easy to say, "Well I am not like that." But are you sure that your blood tie is not stronger than your kinship with Christ? Who do you turn to for help when you are in trouble? I have some dear Christian friends whom I am only too ready to help - but they would rather receive it from a son or daughter or nephew or niece. And what about me? Well, when I put up some curtains in the summer the person I asked to be on standby in case I needed help was my brother Philip - who is not a Christian.

Not many Christians are like Jesus who when he was told on one occasion that his mother and brothers were waiting to see him said, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." Lk8v21.

The most important family we belong to is God's family. When we believe in Jesus God adopts us into his family. God adopts all sorts into his family - people of different races, tribes, clans, classes, parentages, politics, ages, educational backgrounds and tastes. None of the things that divide should be as important as what unites us. We should share God's inclusive policy. Our commitment to each other should be as great as our commitment to God. Nothing should get in the way of that commitment.

(5) The fruit of the Spirit.

An ideal church should display all the fruits of the Spirit listed in Gal5v22and23. Paul only mentions two of them here: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Spirit. v13.

(a) Joy.

Church should be a happy place. It should be infused with a joyful spirit. Christians meet together to rejoice in all that God has done. That is why singing is such an important part of our services.

Last week I spoke at a ladies meeting in Bury St Edmunds. The ladies spent 15 minutes choosing and singing a verse or two of their favourite hymns. It was an uplifting time and prepared the ground for my encouraging address.

(b) Peace.

Individual Christians have an inner serenity founded on the knowledge that all is well with their souls. They can sing:

I'm redeemed, yes I am,
By the blood of the Lamb,
Jesus Christ has done it all for me.
I am His, He is mine,
I'm part of the royal vine,
All my sins were washed away at Calvary.

Conclusion.

My conclusion is very short and simple. Some churches are obsessed by growth. This passage suggests that quality comes before quantity.