TO HAVE CHURCH OR TO BE THE CHURCH

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, or afternoon or evening depending on where you're joining us from, please do let us know. Well in this topic, it is one that I believe many have confusion about, what is true church. Is church a building? Well the Bible tells us all the answers we need to navigate our christian progress. So is church a building, lets start with the greek word as it is where it began for us as believers. The greek word is ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία) and

is formed of two seperate words ek ("out

of") and kaleo ("to call"), meaning "the called-out ones" So what do we take from this word or words, that we as born again believers (John 3:3) are to be called out of what? Well we are told to be not conformed to the world, Romans 12:2. We are also told not to love the world, nor are we of the world, but in it. The image to the right is not church, its satan's deception.

13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. - John 17:13-19

So as we can see above, we are not of the world but in the world. So you say, what has this to do with the church. Well, it has everything to do with where the name "church" came from, we must go back to the original text, the meaning and understand what God is saying. We see verses such as in Matthew 18:20 that says "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” This means where there are a few true believers there also is our Master, we being His slaves and what are we to do as we gather, what is the role of the church or the "called out ones"?

THE CHURCH.... WHAT IS THE MISSION?

The mission although in theory seems so easy, but in reality is not always the case. Since sin entered the world because of one mans sin, it was not that God left man, but that man left God as we see after Adam sinned.... It wasn't Adam wandering around calling out "O LORD God where are you? O LORD God where are you?" It was as we read in Genesis 3:9 "But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”. God never left us, we left HIm, buut the LORD God had a redemptive plan since the very beginning, a way for us to come back to the LORD our God. It is God who is the seeker of His creatures, since He called out "Adam where are you" to the end where in Revelation 22:17 "The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price."

The mission is simple, to glorify the LORD God. We have the prime example of this glorification in the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to glorify God. So the mission of the church is to glorify God.

• It glorifies God when sinners are saved

• It glorifies God when the unredeemed and who are separated from Him are brought back by grace and into fellowship transformed and being made once again children unto HIs family.

• He even came into the world, into human history to redeem what was HIs.

• Why, because the supreme desire is to glorify Himself

CHURCH.... BUT WHAT IS THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE?

WHAT COULD IT BE:

• Teaching? To help strengthening believers, to clarify or to put out doctrine, to articulate theology, useful principals for Christian living, to train people for specific responsibilities within the church, to instruct children and young people in the obedience to the law of God, and a mission to bringing them to Christ and all these are very important for sure.

• Fellowship? a place to make friends, you know with good people, honest people, Godly people who strengthen your life, a place to provide activity for the family, enjoyable activity, meaningful activity, a place to enjoy music, festive music, recreation, to cultivate relationships, a good place to hang out until the end. Where love is shared and cultivated and all of this is surely important. For Jesus said in John 13: 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

• Praise?

IS IT:

• Fellowship, then we should be automatically brought up into heaven, where fellowship is perfect. Where sin can not break or violate the fellowship we have as it does here on earth, so it's not fellowship.

• Teaching, if the purpose of us being knowledgeable and pure in doctrine, then He would have surely brought up to heaven, where instantly we would have all known these things perfectly with all knowledge, so it's not teaching.

• Praise, could it be praise but if God wanted perfect praise, then He would have brought us up into heaven... so our praise is like our teaching, it's all muddled up, and the only place it could be perfect is in heaven

So if God just really wanted perfect fellowship, perfect knowledge of His word and perfect praise, then He would have just immediately brought us all up to heaven. So if that is the case then let us all go, let us be brought up to heaven to praise with the angelic choir. But so many miss this, or just don't want to truly surrender the LOrd, to truly die to self... listen carefully Christian... our sole mission is to go out and seek the lost, and save them. This is the sole purpose of our being, our being redeemed, our being left here on this earth.... the ONLY reason is to save souls and help them find their way home. So Christian, what are you doing to find lost souls, you don't have to look or go to far... in fact they are right next you, across from you and even looking at you.... are we not called to love, for what did God do for us... what were we to HIm.....?

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Christian, change your mind.. repent if need be and start to store your riches up in heaven, for one day we will all be judged by our deeds. I don't know about you, but I do not want to look in the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ and say I was afraid of man and for this I turned away from saving souls and the many other excuses our flesh can stumble us with.

I pray this blog will pierce your heart, restart the desire and reignite the ziel for our objective The Great Commission and truly love one another as true family.

Contact us, reach out to support our mission of evangelizing and saving souls.

Yours by God's Grace

Dean Brady