The Purpose of the Church
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We are…The body! Here we are again – we have gathered to worship our Lord and savior. We are taking these weeks to look at the body of Christ – the church. What is the church?
Last week we looked at the Nature Of The Church and we found that the Bible calls the church:
1. A FELLOWSHIP
2. A FAMILY
3. A BODY
4. A FLOCK
We were reminded that each of these metaphors gives us a different understanding of The Church and shows how The Church is to function. The church – God’s church – founded by our savior. The Church belongs to Him – it isn’t your church or my church, or even our church, it is His church!
This week I want us to be reminded of the Purpose Of The Church.
We are going to do that with an acrostic this morning, but we find the word in
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
The word shine can be used as a simple tool, an acrostic, to help us understand the purpose of The Church.
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S —
H —
I —
N —
E —
Let’s take these five letters and examine
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H —
I —
N —
E —
10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Our job is to seek and to share what God has done in us.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus gave this commandment to His disciples – and through them, the commandment comes now to us! Our job is to seek – to Go and make disciples! But notice this – Jesus says – “I am with you always” – even to the end of the age. We have the responsibility to tell people about our savior. No Generation can tell the Good News to this Generation except this Generation. That means that you and I have a job to do. If we don’t share the good news – it won’t be shared! We are charged with telling people in our time about Jesus.
But I am so thankful that we don’t have to do it alone, Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” When we share with our neighbors and friends about our relationship we have with Christ – He is right there with us.
Now, while it is true that He will help us – He will be with us – not everyone will accept Jesus because we have told them about Him. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep telling them. Why - because God is the only answer to the problems that plague our world. If you had the cure for cancer and did not share it – it would be criminal. If you had the cure for aids and did not share it – it would be immoral. But we know the cure for sin. If you know Christ – He has touched you – He has forgiven you. You know how people can have peace with God. We MUST share the cure in a sick and hurting world.
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H — HELP
I —
N —
E —
We are here to care for one another. Because of the relationship that the New Testament Church had with one another and with God – when someone had a need The Church stepped in to meet that need. That’s what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to help each other. We are to use our gifts and talents in helping others not just so we can earn a living.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.
We are always to help when we can, but there is a saying that goes like this. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him the rest of his life.
Folks, we are to help others so they can become productive parts of society. Peter said this about helping others:
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H — HELP
I — INCLUDE
N —
E —
Include means to welcome people into the family. Make them feel at home. Peter says it this way:
9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
Churches sometimes are not very accepting of new people when they arrive. They are not willing to accept newcomers. But that is certainly not the church that Jesus founded. We are to welcome others as part of the family!
11 Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.
How many of you like to be left out? How many of you liked being picked last for the team? How many of you liked it when you didn’t get the invitation to the party? We want to be included. We want to be part of the activities. That is also true of every person who ever comes in the doors of our church.
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H — HELP
I — INCLUDE
N — NURTURE
E —
Nurture is about growing in Christ and becoming more like Him. The bible calls that sanctification. God has a plan for your life, and it is to make you like Jesus! Sanctification is God’s grace at work in our lives to change us!
When we pray “Jesus I want to be more like you” we better be ready for Christ to start working in our lives – sometimes leading us into difficult situations.
I came across this story awhile back…A man was sleeping in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of the cabin. The Lord told the man that he was to push against the rock with all his might. He did, day after day.
For many years the man pushed against the rock – from sun up to sun down – his shoulders set squarely against the cold massive surface of the unmoving rock. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been wasted.
Since the man was so discouraged, Satan decided to enter the picture – and placed more negative thoughts in the man’s mind. He started thinking of himself as a failure and became quite depressed. The man started having thoughts of suicide – but the day before he was going to carry out his plan he decided to pray to God.
“Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service putting all my strength to do that which you asked. Yet after all this time, the rock has not moved half an inch. What went wrong? Why have I failed?”
The Lord said, “I asked to you serve me and push against the rock. You have been faithful. But I never expected you to move the rock. Your task was to push. You have not failed – your arms are stronger – your back is too. Your legs have become massive and your hands callused. Through pushing you have become a different person than you were. Through opposition you have become stronger.”
“True, you have not moved the rock – but you have not just exercised your body but also you faith. You just pushed. Now I will move the rock.”
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H — HELP
I — INCLUDE
N — NURTURE
E — EXALT
This is the fifth purpose of The Church. We are to exalt the Lord by worshipping Him. The psalmist said it this way:
3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
The overall purpose of the church is to glorify God. To exalt Him. It’s what The Church needs to do today – it’s what The Church needs to do tomorrow and it’s what The Church will be doing into eternity.
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
The Purpose of The Church is to Shine
S — SEEK & SAVE
H — HELP
I — INCLUDE
N — NURTURE
E — EXALT
These are the purposes of The Church. But these are also purposes of the Christian. You and I are to shine so that people will see God in us and He will be glorified. He is worthy of the best that we can give Him.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and Matthew 5:16
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
What is the purpose of The Church – to SHINE. What is your purpose and my purpose – to SHINE so that men can see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.