Foundations of the Faith

Lesson 6 – The Church

Introduction

• Just as the family is the environment in which a newborn baby is nurtured and receives care, so the church is the environment (family) in which a Christian is nurtured and receives care. The church is not optional for a Christian, it is essential, not for salvation but for obedience. Every Christian is part of God's family, the church, and he is to function as part of the church.

• I Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body…we were all made to drink of one Spirit." Salvation places us in union with Christ and in union with other members of the body of Christ.

What is the Church?

• The word translated church in the New Testament is "ecclesia," which means “assembly or gathering." The church is the people gathered together into God’s family through salvation in Jesus Christ. Universally, it includes all Christians throughout the world.

• In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

• The New Testament used the word "church" most often to refer to a local group of believers in a certain place, banded together for instruction, fellowship, worship and service. The church is a living organism, not a religious organization or social club.

The Church is the . . .

• Body of Christ

– 1 Corinthians 12:12 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

– 1 Corinthians 12:18 But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.

– 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

• Building of God

– 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

– 1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

– 1 Peter 2:5 You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

• Building of God

– Ephesians 2:19-22 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

• Bride of Christ

– Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her

– Revelation 19:7&9 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. 9 Then he said to me, "Write, ' Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'"

Jesus is the Head of the Church

• Ephesians 5:23

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

Jesus Purchased the Church

• Acts 20:28

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Jesus Loves the Church

• Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.

Example of the Early Church

• Acts 2:42

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The Purpose of the Church

• The same as the purpose for each Christian -- to glorify God (to please God).

• 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "Therefore we have as our aim, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."

• Ephesians 1:9, 12 says, "He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him…to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory."

Three Primary Church Ministries

• Worship (Exaltation)

– Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

– Psalms 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

– Psalm 150:6 says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."

Three Primary Church Ministries

• Watchcare (Edification)

– Ministry to one another. Watchcare includes teaching, discipling, encouraging, serving, extending mercy, admonishing, comforting, praying, etc.

– Romans 15:2 We should please others. If we do what helps them, we will build them up in the Lord. (NLT)

– Romans 14:19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.

Three Primary Church Ministries

Watchcare Commands

Colossians 3:16 Teach and admonish one another

Philippians 2:3 Regard one another more highly than ourselves

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another; forgive one another

Ephesians 4:2 Forbear with one another

James 5:16 Pray for one another; confess sins to one another

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens

Hebrews 10:25 Encourage one another

I Thes. 4:18 Comfort one another

Three Primary Church Ministries

Watchcare Commands

John 15:12 Love one another

Ephesians 4:25 Speak truth one to another

I Thes. 5:13 Live in peace with one another

Romans 15:7 Accept one another

I Peter 4:10 Serve one another

I Peter 4:9 Be hospitable to one another

Hebrews 10:24 Stimulate one another to love

Ephesians 5:21 Be subject to one another

I Thes. 5:11 Build up one another

Three Primary Church Ministries

• Witness (Evangelism)

– Acts 1:8 says, "But you shall receive power when the Holy spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses even to the remotest part of the earth."

– Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always even to the end of this age."

Three Primary Church Ministries

• Witness (Evangelism)

– In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men ."

– Jesus also said, "…Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 15:15)

• The church has been given the mission of taking the gospel (the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection) to the world.

Church Leadership

• God gave gifted men to the Church to equip believers for ministry

– Ephesians 4:11-12 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors - teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;

• Those who have the responsibility for the spiritual rule and care of the church are called:

Pastors (Ephesians 4:11)

Elders (Acts 14:23; 20:17)

Overseers (Acts 20:28).

All three are the same office of leadership.

• Men who are selected to assist the elders are called deacons (I Timothy 3:8-13).

• The Church is to obey the leadership.

– Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Church Unity

• Jesus’ Prayer

– John 17:11 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.”

• God’s Desire

– 1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

• Our Responsibility

– Ephesians 4:2-3 . . . With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

• God’s Desire

– Humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance and love will promote unity.

Church Ordinances

• The church has been given two ceremonial ordinances:

Baptism (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:38)

– Baptism is the first act of obedience for the Christian. It is only for believers since it symbolizes death (you died with Christ), burial (your old life has been put away), and resurrection (you have been raised to new life in Christ). Immersion is the only mode of baptism which illustrates this truth.

Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-28; I Corinthians 11:23-26).

– The Lord's Supper is an act of remembrance. It is remembering Christ's death, our present fellowship with Christ and the other members of His body, and Christ's return to earth. While baptism reminds us we died with Christ, the Lord's Supper reminds us Christ died for us. Remembering the great price Jesus paid for our sin motivates us to put to death sin in our lives.

Conclusion

The church is the body of Christ and in His absence we represent Jesus to the world. With Christ as our head, all believers are related to Him as well as to one another. Functioning interdependently, being faithful to our Lord, we are to exalt the Savior (worship), equip and edify the saints (watchcare), and evangelize the sinners (witness).