Introduction
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The word church is from the Greek word 'ekklesia' which means 'the called out ones'. Therefore, the church is not a place to go for fellowship or worship but the church is the Body of Christ which comprises of every believer in Chrust dead or alive. On earth, the church (including every believer) is called the univeral church but due to geographical distance (barrier), the church fellowships together in little gatherings at different locations and each congregation of believers is referred to as the local church (congregation).
Christ The Head Of The Church
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
The Church is the Body of Christ and the head of the body of which every believer is part is Jesus Christ. The church is also referred to as Christ's Bride sharing in all that Jesus Christ is, all He has and the purpose of His heart.
The Purpose Of The Church
The purpose of church includes;
- Why the church exists (general purpose)
- What the church is made to do (specific purpose)
The Church Exists To Express His Glory
This means that the church exist to bring pleasure to God by expressing His nature and demonstrsting His kingdom in all it's glory. We do this by going into every sector of the worlds system, displaying the love of Chist for them. We achieve this through;
- Worship
- Community/Fellowship
- Ministry
- Mission
- Discipleship
Worship
The church is made for fellowship and friendship with God. It is about our relationship with the father and His son. It is from this relationship that every other purpose is birthed - Our loved for God.
When the church (every believer) walks with God in His love and desires to please Him, we can then go ahead to love ourselves and others (other beleivers and the dying word)
Fellowship
The church is a family and every believer is a sibling while God is our father. Christ has commanded the church to love one another as He has loved us.
Ministry
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This is the process of building and equiping the church through the gifting's and fucntioning of every believer as part of the body. Every believer is a minster. These include minstry gifts, natural abilities/talents ectc.
Mission
Soul winning is the mission of the church . It is referred to as the great commision.The messag is the Gospel of Christ though the method of propagation may vary.
Discipleship
The church has the responsibility of discipling and teaching the new born in Christ, nurturing them into maturity.
Conclusion
As believers we must know that our responsibility is to sustain the victory christ has won and this can only be achieved by bringing our sphere of influence in subject to Christ. We come to church to get serviced for service.