Welcome to Exploring SGC! Let’s begin with God’s word and a word of prayer.

Turn with me to Matthew 16:13-19 

Make a few comments before reading

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 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. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Today we are going to talk about the church that Christ is building. The church that the gates of hell will not prevail against. The technical word for this is Ecclesiology.

Let’s pray

Today’s seminar is for anyone who is interested in learning more about Sovereign Grace Church of Prattville. We will have three sessions covering Why Joining a Church Matter, Our Core Beliefs As A Church, & How We Do Ministry and Mission As A Church.

But before we dive in,

What’s your religious/church background? What are you looking for in a church?

It doesn’t have to be long, just enough to wet our appetites and inform us of your background.

Thank you for sharing! Let’s now turn to the topic of this first sessions and that is

Why Joining A Church Matters

Let’s first recall what Jesus said in Matthew 16. Namely that He is building His Church. So why join a church? Because Jesus is King. And because He is the King, His mission matters. And what is His mission? Building His church…

Jesus is King & He is building His church.

We live in a culture that is all about self. Being whatever we want to be rather than being what God has called us to be. And with the increasing individualistic entitled culture we are living in, the idea of submitting to Jesus as King and taking orders from Him is increasingly more and more foreign to the American sensibilities.

Jesus is seen more as a life coach with good advice. God is seen as a nice grandpa or Santa Clause. But not the King of kings to submit to. And certainly not the only way to eternal life.

And yet the God of the Scriptures reveals Himself as the King who is Building His Church.

So with that in mind, what exactly is the church?

You have probably heard it said, the church is not a building, it is the people. And yet, when people of think of the church, they think of a building. So which is it? To help us let’s consider the metaphors the bible uses to refer to the church

A Flock — A Garden — A City — A House/Temple — Bride

What do these Metaphors teach us about the church?

Stinky animals that live in community needing a Shepherd. (Flock) Beneficial (Garden). Community (City) God’s dwelling (House/Temple) Beloved and Beautiful (Bride) Many and yet one.

In 1Corinthians 12, we learn that the church is considered Christ’s body. There are many members yet one body in whom Christ is the head. Verse 12-13 says,

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 1Corinthians 12:12-13

In other words, Jesus is building His church by redeeming sinners from all walks of life and there ought to be no divisions within His people. In the same way that a body has many different members but all work in unison to accomplish the same goal.

Now the Bible speaks about the church in two ways. The Universal Church and the Local Church.

The Universal church is comprised of all born again believers from all time.

Whereas the Local church is as our SoF under Section 12 puts it,

Is an expression of Christ’s universal church… It continues... “The local church is the focal point of God’s plan to mature his people and save sinners. Therefore, all Christians are to join themselves as committed members to a specific local church...It then moves to describing what the Bible says about what marks the kind of local church Christ is building. It rightly says... “A true church is marked by the faithful preaching of the Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and the proper exercise of church discipline. Even true churches are imperfect: they often contain a mixture of unbelievers hidden among the true flock and are vulnerable to theological error and moral failure. Yet Christ is unwavering in his commitment to build his church and will surely bring it to maturity.”

The Bible also speaks about biblically ordained roles within the church. In the scriptures you see the office of elder and deacon. 1Timothy 3 and Titus 2 layout the qualifications for such roles in Christ’s church. Again, our Sof rightly states,

“Elders occupy the sole office of governance and are called to teach, oversee, care for, and protect the flock entrusted to them by the Lord. [21] Deacons provide for the various needs of the church through acts of service. God gives these and other people as gifts to serve and equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

What is your church background when it comes to leaders in the church? Their roles and titles.

1Peter 5:2-3 instructs elders/pastors,

“shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

So why does joining a church matter? Because the Christ is King and because the Bible commands it. There is no such thing as someone submitting to Scripture and NOT prioritizing community in the local church.

I could make the argument starting all the way back in creation and being made in the image of the Triune God. I could walk through the Old Testament and prove that God’s people are not meant to live in isolation nor are they meant to do their own thing.

But instead, I want to just consider the New Testament’s concern for the local church.

Jesus spoke of the church during His earthly ministry. He even proscribes the church in Matthew 18 instructions on how to deal with a church member who refuses to repent. Obedience to Christ’s instruction can only be fully obeyed in the context of a local church.

The book of Acts is the account of the advance of the gospel into all the world. But not the gospel only. But churches. Anytime Paul went to a new location and there were new converts, he would establish a local church.

The NT is filled with letters to LOCAL CHURCHES.

Many of the commands in the NT can only be applied primarily in the context of the local church.

Bear with one another in love

Submit to one another

Submit to your leaders

Exercise spiritual gifts

Hebrews 10:24-25 says,

“24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”

And the last book of the NT starts off with unique instructions to 7 local churches.

THEREFORE, We cannot escape the role and priority of the local church in the mission of King Jesus. To forsake joining a local church is to forsake the commands of Christ and it is to belittle our need for biblical community and authority, as well as to neglect Jesus’ missional strategy in world.

What this means functionally for SGC is that we prioritize a process where professing Christians can become familiar with us a church and if they desire to remain, we funnel them through steps to aid in their obedience to Christ in committing to the church and in turn we commit to them.

Once a person becomes a member, they are strategically placed under an elder and deacon for intentional care but of course they still have access to the other Elders and deacons.

We will get in to more specifics especially in the third session, but as let me conclude with a working definition of membership in the local church.

In accordance with the Scriptures, membership in the local church simply means committing oneself to serve in, submit to, and support/spread the gospel with a specific Bible believing church.

Questions?

Do you see why the ordinary local church is the most important gathering in the world? It may not look impressive with its crying babies, walker-bound-elderly, and sin-sick people. Yet, it is the only institution that Jesus said he would build, and the only one that will prevail against all evil (Matt 16:18). It meant enough to Jesus that he died on a cross to purchase it. What could matter more, indeed what could be more wonderful, than that? Mark Alderton