This Sunday I will conclude the teaching series on the Church. The theme of 2022 is “Better Together”. I have been trying to teach what the Bible says about the church and to make the point that we are indeed, better together. One of the hardest obstacles to overcome is the consumer mentality as it is related to the church. For some, the church is just a vendor of religious goods and services primarily existing in order to serve its members. That may be an established or even an entrenched idea for some. It is not the biblical picture.
We started with the words of Jesus found in Matthew 16:18: “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God’. Jesus replied “…and on this rock I will build my church.’” What is the church that Jesus is building and what are we supposed to be doing? You can visit online and hear the message that addresses these questions.
As I am fond of saying “God is in business to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world. JIBC is in business to join Him”. We reach people to be a part of God’s family; help them grow to become more like Jesus; equip them for their ministry to the Body of Christ; send them out into the community and world to make a difference; and to worship Him daily in our lifestyle and weekly as we gather.
The second message on the Church was based on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. The Corinthians Church got a little sideways on their attitudes about “those people”. Paul took them back to Jesus, back to His crucifixion, burial and resurrection. He led them to focus on Jesus and to do some self-examination. Our attitude should be that of Christ…not that of the world.
Last Sunday we looked at the Apostle Paul’s favorite analogy of the Church…The Body of Christ. Paul refers to “body” over 91 times. He uses the analogy of the body for the church 18 times in this chapter. He must have been convinced that this was a great analogy. The Body has many parts, but is ONE Body; it has many parts and each one is IMPORTANT; it has many parts but we are still INTERDEPENDENT; the body has many parts but we still have UNITY IN DIVERSITY. It is easy to make the biblical case…we are better together.
Membership into a local church family is membership into fellowship. In this fellowship, we are united by the mission of God; by the commission of our Lord Jesus; and by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. We do this better together. We are not just consuming religious goods and services. We are joining God on a mission to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world. Membership into God’s family is the first step of the journey.
See you Sunday, good Lord willing!
Pastor Tom
