Why Church
1. To have fellowship with God and each other. – 1 John 1:1-7 (esp. vss. 5-7)
2. To learn how to become part of God’s family. – 1 Pet. 3:8 TLB – “And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds.”
A. We are adopted into the family of God. Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:4-5 & Eph. 1:4-6
B. I think we should return to the habit of calling each other brother and sister. It helps to implant in our minds our relationship to each other and to God. The New Testament is full of the usage of the words brother, sister, and brethren when referring to unrelated members of the Church.
C. To learn how to relate to one another. New Commandment, John 13:34-35 – “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
3. To learn how to fulfill our purpose – Rom. 7:4 CEB – “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also died with respect to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you could be united with someone else. You are united with the one who was raised from the dead so that we can bear fruit for God.”
Col. 3:16-17 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
2 Thess. 1:12 – “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
How do we become a successful church?
By resolving our identity crisis.
The church of today stands at the edge of a precipice. We are failing to use the power that God has given us. Matt. 16:18-19 – “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
I don’t believe that Peter that is the rock but the faith Peter expressed in vs. 16. This is repeated in Matt. 18:18-19 – “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”
1 Cor. 2:5,16 – “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Cor. 4:20 – “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
Eph. 3:19-20 – “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
2 Pet. 1:3-4 – “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Many denominations teach that this “power” was reserved only for the 12 Apostles and Paul. That it is not for the believers of today, but they are wrong and that is part of the problem. One excellent example is the story given us in Luke 10. Christ sent out the seventy to preach the gospel and here is their report and Christ’s reply to them:
Luke 10:17, 19-20 – “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
Occasionally, a preacher might touch on this subject but they don’t usually expand upon it. When Peter tells us in 1 Pet. 2:9 that: “… ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We really need to take this to heart. This is our identity! As believers it is who we are! It’s not who we will become someday when we become good enough. We’ll never be good enough! WE are the very definition of 1 Cor. 1:27 – “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”
We need to admit and own this. We are the foolish and weak things that will confound the world when we exercise our faith in Christ and realize that one of the truest statements in God’s word is found in Heb. 11:1 – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
I’ve heard a few sermons on Christian radio all about one verse. This verse is 2 Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
The gist of their message was that we, as the church, need to be better in order for us to receive this promise. However, I have a problem with that. This promise is NOT for the church, it was for Israel. Let’s look at this logically. If we call ourselves “Christians” then that should imply that we have already repented and turned from our ‘wicked ways”. We have already been “forgiven”, yet “our land” is not being healed and seems to be drifting farther away from God. In order to be “called by His name” we have to do the latter part of the verse first but the verse implies that it is speaking to those who are already “called by His name” first and they need to repent later. So my question is: What are we expecting God to do that we can’t do ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit?
Consider these two verses. John 21:25 – “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”
John 14:12-14 – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
What does Christ want and expect of us? The answer lies in His prayer for believers found in John 17:20-23 – “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Our power and authority lie in unity! However, we as the church, are divided in just about every category that we can imagine. Jesus warned us in Matt. 12:25 that “…a house divided against itself shall not stand:” How can the world believe that Christ was sent of God if we, His disciples, can’t agree on what that means? Denominationalism has torn the church apart into so many different pieces that it is hard to imagine that we can ever be repaired but Christ has promised us that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”
We are already ONE with God the Father and the Son! We have the power and authority to do anything we want, we just can’t seem to agree, as a whole, on exactly what it is that we do want! Instead of praying for repentance and revival, why don’t we just act like it is already here? Isn’t that what Heb. 11:1 means? It’s up to us to accomplish His purpose. That’s why we are called His “Body”. We are His arms and legs, etc., but instead of walking forth with purpose we flail around like one of the cartoon air figures we see at tax places and auto dealers where they shift around and twist and contort in every direction. We take two steps forward and four steps back and never seem to make any progress! We seem to have become precisely what Paul warned Timothy about in 2 Tim. 3:5, 7. We have a form of godliness but deny its power. We are ever learning but never coming to the truth as a unified Body!
III. How do we achieve our goal of being unified Body?
Simply love one another. Here are some verses that teach us what that means.
Mark 9:50 – …Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
John 13:14 – If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
John 13:34 – A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another…
Rom. 12:5 – So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Rom. 12:10 – Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.
Rom. 12:16 – Be of the same mind one toward another.
Rom. 14:13 – Let us not therefore judge one another any more…
Rom. 14:19 – Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.
Rom. 15:5 – Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom. 15:14 – …that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.
1 Cor. 12:25 – That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
Gal. 5:13 – …but by love serve one another.
Gal. 5:26 – Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Gal. 6:2 – Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Eph. 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Col. 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
1 Thess. 4:8 – Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Heb. 3:13 – But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb. 10:24 – And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
James 4:11 – Speak not evil one of another, brethren.
James 5:16 – Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
1 Pet. 3:8 – Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
1 Pet. 4:9 – Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
The problem affecting most of today’s churches is that we don’t even know one another let alone being able to obey all the above verses. Fellowship has turned into various cliques sitting at their own tables and not interacting w/ the rest of the church that is present. We don’t know where we all live. Visiting each other and having fellowship “outside” of the church setting is actually frowned upon by most. The concept of an actual friendship outside of church is a rare occurrence. We may speak the words and sing the songs about being part of the “family of God” but folks really don’t know what that means or entails. If a church has more than one service, those attending different services rarely interact at all and don’t even know most of the other congregants by name. How do we change this, to become the church body Jesus wants us to be?
Go back to the beginning of this article and read it again!
