The Church
Notes
Transcript
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it.
I find it both fascinating and troublesome that so many professing Christians seems so ill-informed, confused, or down right apathetic when it comes to the subject of church.
One statistic that I keep seeing is that post-Covid people consider themselves to be “regular attenders” if they show up 1.5 times per month for a service.
That simply would not work in any other walk of life. Can you imagine what it would be life if I showed up at my house after being going over a month and Karen acted upset with me and I said “why are you upset, I was just here last month.” But somehow this is becoming more and more a trend.
I love what Heath Schall said to me the other day:
We plan our lives around church and not church around our lives.
We plan our lives around church and not church around our lives.
In other words, church is not something that should be done, if nothing else is going on. It should be a well known priority in our lives.
I also read where someone described church as “a state of mind.” And said they were always in church.
My favorite “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian!”
Answers to that
Show me a verse in the Bible that does not connect a follower of Jesus to gathering with the church. (I want to remind you that most of the New Testament is written to local churches. Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians - written to the church and about church, Philippians is written to Christians in Philippi and talks about them as a church, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thess., Philemon has a church meeting in his house, James writes to have the elders of the church pray, and while John is in exile AWAY from the church, he writes Revelation TO the seven churches. You can’t be a disciple of Jesus, studying your New Testament and not discover that the CHURCH is super important.
Why do you need to be persuaded to do what should be your heart desire as a follower of Christ.
Sure there are people who are providentially hindered from being in church. Age, sickness, jobs, emergencies (ox in the ditch), but I am talking about the mindset that says church is not really a priority.
So true, you could be a Christian without regular church participation, but you can’t be an OBEDIENT, spirit fill Christian without the church.
A Called Out People
A Called Out People
When the Bible speaks of church, it is almost always talking about a local church. The church did not have its own building and church was always people. The New Testament might refer to a church as meeting in a geographic location, or in someone’s house. But almost always “church” is speaking of a gathered group of believers.
The Word we translate as church is ekklessia and means a called out assembly. a few times the Bible uses that word to speak of an assembly that is not related to Christians (secular or OT gathering of people) but WELL over 100 times and the huge majority of times that the word ekklessia is used, it means a local gathering of Christians.
Called out for assembly- in other words these people weren’t simple going on a hike and happened to include some “spiritual” conversation as they walked as one man told me.
This calling together was for the purpose of gathering as followers of Jesus Christ.
A Present People
A Present People
27 After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Building off the thought of being called out, the church is not the church without being present.
When Paul got back to Antioch from a missionary journey, the first thing they did is to call the church together.
Was a each individual Christian a part of the church even when they weren’t meeting. Sure they were, but it wasn’t church until they MET TOGETHER. The reason Christians are a part of the “Church” is for coming together.
A Belonging People
A Belonging People
So much of the New Testament is written to keep Christians who make up the local church wherever they are ON TRACK. To encourage to keep doing the good things. To commend their faith and exhort them to keep believing. AND TO CORRECT when things are getting out of whack.
18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
One of the things that become very clear from a reading of the NT is that individual Christians belonged to a local church and they were held accountable in that context.
I am afraid that we too often can see church as a place where we are served more than a place to belong and be encouraged, kept on track, and corrected.
Did you know that the NT places an emphasis on belonging and accountability to the point that it gives process on how to REMOVE members who involved in open, habitual, and scandalous sin.
Last year there was a letter that circulated on social media where a local church had sent word to a wayward member that since they refused to give up their sin, they were being removed from membership of that church. They fact that the member chose to put that on social media rather than repent and build up her church, was truly telling to me.
The New Testament sees the local church as a place to BELONG.
They knew nothing of an artificial distinction that sounds like this: “Well my membership is at so and so, but I attend at____________” You were a member where you attended, plain and simple.
And by the way, the Bible knows nothing of getting upset about something, picking up your toy, and going down the road to play with a new church. I will have more to say about reason why you might want to move churches later.
Invitation
Come to faith in Christ. It is his church. The church is made up of people who give their lives to Jesus.
Come be a member at Riddles Bend Baptist Church.
Recommit to be a called out, PRESENT people, who BELONG.