Why Does the Church Exist?

Opening and Welcome 

Good afternoon. It is good to see you all and worship Jesus with you today. Hello and welcome to those joining us online. We are glad you’re here and look forward to seeing you in person soon.  

Introduction 

This is the second sermon of our two-week series on the church. Last week we briefly explained what the church is.  

We said that the Church is a people defined by their faith in Jesus that set apart by God. They are set apart to be a light of righteousness together. Set apart to live lives marked by love for God together.  

Today, we are shifting our attention to why does the church exists by expanding on that last point in the definition – to be a light of righteousness together.  

It’s important to be clear about why the church exists because it should be the reason why we exist here at Restoration. This is the benchmark by which we measure if we are being faithful to God. 

Another reason it is important that we are clear on this is because it is worth asking “What’s the point of the church in a world full of NGOs, TED Talks, psychics, and self-help gurus?”  

There are three points that I’ll be pointing out for why the church exists. The church exists to worship God, for community, and to proclaim the goodness of God. 

Let me pray, asking for God’s help as we hear his word.  

Worship and Honor God 

The first point on why the church exists is that it exists to worship God. We can see this in the first three of the ten commandments that God gave to Israel. This was God telling them what he wants from the people he has set apart for himself. Remember the church of the NT is not different in purpose than what we find in the OT with Adam and Eve, Noah and his family, and the with Israel.  

The 10 commandments are described in Exodus 20 and the first three has to do with God being worshipped and honored and the last seven with the how it gets lived out.  

If God gives ten commandments to instruct on how he wants to be worshipped, then I think it’s pretty important to God that he be worshipped and honored.  (Read Exodus 20:1-7).  

He says in the first three commands, “have no other gods, worship no gods, do not misuse my name.” The ultimate priority for God is that those who call on his name worship him as he desires to be worshipped.  

In our Christian lexicon, we often refer to our singing as worship. Whether it is singing as part of the service or singing in our private space. However, worship that God desires of his people go beyond singing of songs. Worship is about a devotion of our life to God himself.  

When we sing and we call it worship, we do so because in our singing, we are committed to giving God his glory, and his praise. In that moment, we are expressing our commitment to God. 

But the commitment that God wants is the one that goes beyond singing and extends to all of our life.  

The church exists to worship God because that’s why she was created, but it is very easy for us to worship other things that is not God. Whatever has your allegiance and priority over your allegiance to God is what you worship.  

For some local churches that allegiance has become politics. Their allegiance is more to a political ideology than it is to God. That is both left and right. It’s not just the Christian nationalism of the right but also the liberalism of the left.  

For other local churches that allegiance has become the things they get from God. Their allegiance is more to the miracle and deliverance that God gives instead of God himself. That becomes what they sell.  

What has it become for us? 

Is our priority at Restoration Church to be a church that worships and honors God? Is it the priority in your life? Because whatever is the priority of your life and of my life will become the priority of the church because we are the ones that make up the church.  

We worship and honor God by living for his glory. We live for his glory by obeying his commands. When we obey his commands, we end up reflecting his character in our life. 

So, we can say we are properly worshipping God when our life is aiming to reflect his character.  

The first half of our mission statement is that we exist to be a place that reflects Jesus truthfully. We can’t do that if worshipping and honoring Jesus is not a priority in our personal lives.  

We can worship money over God, our career over God, people’s opinions over God, our ego over God, and so on.   

But our aim must be to worship God in spirit and in truth. What does that mean? It means we worship God with enablement of the spirit of God and with the truth of God.  

To Be a Community 

Here is the second point. The church exists to be a community. I talked about this some last week. Everyone is being formed by a community. We all want to be part of something and not be alone. It is why we people join clubs, sport teams, and participate in happy hours. It is why companies have employee resource groups. Every group that we are part of, whether it is family, friends, company, clubs, teams, etc., has a role in our formation as people. They all have an impact on what and who we are becoming.  

The community that should have priority in our formation is the church. The church exists so God’s people won’t be alone. We said it last week that God never created one person to worship and love him alone. From the beginning he created a community of two.  

The book Hebrews in 10:24-25 says “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” 

The church exists for community. If there is a place where every Christian can feel safe, and welcomed, it should be the church. If there is a place where every Christian can have their voice heard and be an active participant, it should be the church. If there is a place where every Christian can be themselves and not feel the weight of performing, it should be the church. It there is a place where every Christian can acknowledge their imperfections and be encouraged, it is the church. If there is a place where every Christian can be loved and can love, it should be the church. If there is a place where every Christian can be supported and comforted, it should be the church. If there is a place where every Christian can be honest about their grief and pain, it should be the church.  

God created the church for that very purpose and we shouldn’t think less of the church but instead work to embrace it and make it better.  

God gave Spirit-empowered gifts to the church so there can be mutual encouragement and edification.  

How can Restoration Church be all that God created it to be with your involvement and gifts? How can we say Restoration Church looks more and more like the Church God had in mind because _____ is here? 

Proclaim the Goodness of God 

Here’s the third point. The church exists to proclaim the goodness God.  

Modesta and I enjoy eating at a good steakhouse. We went to one for the first time for our birthday in February and we absolutely enjoyed it. It was the best steakhouse I think we have been to. It was so good we went back for our anniversary.  

And I can’t stop talking about it. If anyone asks me about how our birthday or anniversary went, they get a full throttled endorsement and recommendation of Oak Steakhouse.  

When I share my experience, I am proclaiming the goodness and excellence of Oak Steakhouse. 

That’s what the church exists to do for God.  

But, unlike steak, which satisfies for a moment, the goodness of Jesus is eternal and life-giving. How much more would we proclaim his goodness? 

Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 

Notice, I didn’t randomly start talking about the steakhouse, although there would be nothing wrong with that, and I wasn’t ashamed to talk about it when the opportunity was presented.  

The church grows when it is unashamed of proclaiming the praises of God to those who have yet to believe. If your relationship with God is the most important thing to you, then it should be part of your conversations in your everyday life.   

In Acts 8, Paul before he became a Christian was persecuting the church in Jerusalem. Killing and jailing any Christians he could find. That led the church in Jerusalem to scatter and run from the persecution. But listen to what they did when they ran from Jerusalem in verse 4, “So those who were scattered went on their way preaching the word.” 

They didn’t scatter to hide. They scattered and continued telling people about Jesus and his good news.  

Paul wrote in Romans 10:14-15, “How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” 

The church exists to bring the good news of Jesus to those who are yet to be part of the church. That takes place either through a formal process like a Pastor who has been ordained, or when a church plants a new church in a new community, or through everyday conversations.  

I think we at Restoration Church have room to grow in that area as a new church. We need to have a God-inspired passion for people who do not yet walk with Jesus. It is only when there is that God-inspired passion for the lost can we walk faithfully in being a church that brings the good news to the lost.  

That’s my prayer for us. That God will give us that passion. There are over 100,000 people within a 10-mile radius of where we are right not who don’t regularly go to church.  

The harvest is plentiful around us. The question is will we answer the call?  

It can start this week. Who can you invite to the weekend brunch? Who can you invite to come and experience the fellowship of God’s people? 

We don’t just exist for internal formation. We also exist for external witness.  

We’re not just a spiritual club or a social movement—we exist to glorify God by being formed by the gospel and sent with the gospel. 

I learned what a healthy marriage looked like by being around healthy marriages in a local church. I learned what loving God’s people looked like by being around people who loved God’s people in a local church. I was formed in a local church. I also have a responsibility to be a witness to others so they too can be formed in the local church. 

Conclusion 

As we wrap up, the church is a beautiful community. It’s imperfect but it’s beautiful. It’s the best community that can form us into looking more like Jesus.  

To summarize, the church exists to worship and honor God, it exists for community, and it exists to proclaim the praises of God.  

May we at Restoration Church be all that God intended his church to be.