What is the Purpose of the Church?

Introduction

We are in week 6 of our catechism study! Halfway through!

So far, we have been through the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This week, we are going to talk about the Church universal.

We are going to answer the question, why does the church exist?

But first, we need to talk about what the church is, and what it is not.

The church is NOT:

A building. We refer to the church when we talk about a physical building, but it is not one place.

A social club! We do not come to church just to hang out with our friends!

A cruise ship! This is not a place where you pay a fee, then you get to enjoy all the privileges this trip has to offer!

There is no full-time buffet, no cabins with an ocean view, and the leaders here are not tasked with serving your needs!

Sometimes we can treat the church like our own personal recreation hall or social space.

But this is not what the church is.

The Church is:

The body of all believers in Christ - regardless of race, language, nationality, time or location, and especially denomination.

I once asked my father if when Jesus came back, he would tell us which denomination was correct. He looked at me like I had three heads, and said no.

I’m sure he said more, but I don’t remember that!

Jesus is the head of this body of believers that we call the church.

The church is a “redemptive fellowship.” This means we are all involved in a group project together. The purposes of this group project are:

Ensuring that we are following Jesus and allowing His redemptive work in us.

Helping our brothers and sisters with the redemptive work that Jesus is doing in them.

And inviting those outside the fellowship to come in.

Think of the church as a big hospital.

We have come to receive healing for our needs, those in the hospital with us are receiving healing for their needs, and we are reaching out to those who haven’t found the hospital yet to come and get healing for their needs!

The fact is, even if we have nothing else in common, we are brothers and sisters because we believe in the Lord Jesus and have submitted ourselves to his lordship.

I also want to point out that just because someone sits in a pew every Sunday morning, does not make them a member of the body of Christ.

In the same way, just because someone does NOT sit in a pew every Sunday, does not mean they are NOT a member of the body of Christ!

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge something that has happened to all of us: church hurt.

I have several stories I could tell about how I have been hurt by people in the church, and I know you could too.

But I don’t want to focus on what has gone wrong with the church. I want to tell you a story that shows the church at its very best.

When I was in college at Texas Tech, I was part of a fellowship called Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.

Each year after finals were over in the spring, they would offer a week away at a camp.

My first year in college, I went to this camp. It was like a 9 hour drive from Lubbock, probably not far from here.

So I drove down with a group of friends.

We spent the week playing ultimate frisbee, hanging out, spending time in small groups, worshipping, laughing, praying. It was so much fun.

One night at our worship service, one of the camp leaders said something that I’ll never forget.

He said, you know, at camp this week, this is probably the closest you are ever going to get to heaven on earth.

We have been able to get away from the worries of the world, be together as believers, love one another, build each other up, laugh and play.

That is what the church is.

At it’s very best, the church is a place where we can laugh together, play together, worship God together.

Where there is no ugly behavior, no evil, no backstabbing, and no painful words.

THAT is the church.

Maintenance of Worship

Now that we know what the church is, let’s explore why the church exists.

Our catechism book gives us three purposes for the church.

The first one, is the maintenance of worship.

One of the church’s jobs is to be a house of worship.

Ok, so what is worship?

Believe it or not, that is a REALLY difficult question to answer. Trust me, I know. In July I took a worship and sacraments class!

And trying to put it on paper or form it into words is harder than I ever expected.

We can confidently say that worship is a gathering of people at a particular time, in a particular place, where God is acknowledged, celebrated, and sought. It is a conversation with the Triune God.

God speaks to us in worship through his word and through the sacraments.

We speak to God through song, affirmations of faith, and prayers.

We seek out the presence of God in worship, and the Holy Spirit moves in the hearts of the people who are gathered.

1 Chronicles 16:8–11 NIV

8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 9 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 11 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

The church’s job is to facilitate and maintain the standards of worship.

The church ensures that the sacraments are administered correctly and in the right circumstances.

For example, the sacrament of baptism is a public event. A pastor should not agree to baptize someone privately in their home unless they are unable to accept visitors.

Baptism should be done with witnesses.

The church should provide for worship for all believers, not because God needs our worship, but because it is spiritual nourishment for all believers to sing our faith, to hear the word preached, to pray for ourselves and others, and receive the grace of Christ through the sacraments.

Worship is not just a box we check each week on Sunday. Worship is spiritual food!

And it is a job of the church to provide for the spiritual need of worship for the believers.

Edification of Believers

The second reason for the church’s existence is the edification of believers.

Edification simply means building up.

The church is for building up and strengthening believers.

Ephesians 4:11–13 NIV

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

This, in a nutshell is the edification of believers!

Christ gives all of different gifts and skills, so that we might use those gifts to equip others for service.

We are here for one another! To encourage one another, to teach one another, to admonish one another, and to share with one another.

This is the way the body of Christ meets its collective potential, and we as individuals reach our full potential in Christ.

The body of Christ is all of us working together for the betterment of each other, so that the world might be better, so that those who do not know Jesus may be brought into the fellowship.

The universal church is Jesus’ plan A. There is no plan B or any other plan at all!

We are Jesus’ hands and feet to do the work he began in his ministry.

It is up to us to allow ourselves to be changed by the Holy Spirit, but also to be taught by other believers.

We must remain humble and moldable if we are to be formed into the image of God by the body of Christ.

Redemption of the World

The third purpose of the church is the redemption of the world.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This is the Great Commission.

Christ himself came to save and redeem humanity. He charged his apostles to continue his work and make disciples of all nations, and that charge continues with us today!

If we are not spreading the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ, then we are just a building, just a fellowship, just a gathering of some people on Sunday morning.

This is our mission! Preaching the gospel, teaching believers how to follow Jesus. That’s it.

As a body of Christ, and as a local church, we must ask ourselves, how is this (whatever this is) fulfilling the mission we have been given?

I am reading a book for my Christian Leadership class called, The Leader’s Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation.

I would like to read a quote from that book:

“The mission trumps. Always. Every time. In every conflict. Not the pastor. Not the members of the church who pay the bills. Not those who scream the loudest or who are most in pain. No. In a healthy Christian ministry, the mission wins every argument.”

Now, you may not agree with that statement.

But if the mission does not trump all, then the church is subject to every pastor, every member, every crisis that comes its way.

It will be blown here and there and tossed by every new wave.

The church universal, and the local church must be subject to the mission of Christ.

Otherwise, we are a church that has gone astray, lost its way, and defied the command of Christ to make disciples and to teach believers.

Every new initiative, every idea of a lay person, every ministry that forms must be measured against the standard of the mission: how does this initiative, idea, or ministry serve the mission of Jesus Christ?

We MUST be brave enough to say, this initiative, idea, ministry sounds good, but it does not fit within the mission of this church. Therefore, we cannot take it on.

That does not mean we do not love you, that doesn’t mean we don’t love who or what what your idea serves, but it does mean that we are a people of one purpose: to fulfill the mission given to us by the Living God.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude our time today with a series of questions that I have heard recently, and that I hope will cause you to consider like it has caused me to consider:

If not here, then where?

If not now, then when?

If not us, then who?

We ARE the body of Christ, the church.

Amen.