3 Fold Purpose Of The Church

The Three-fold Purpose of the Church

Introduction

Illustration:

A rich man was determined to give his mother a birthday present that would outshine all others. He read of a bird that had a vocabulary of 4000 words, could speak in numerous languages and sing 3 operatic arias. He immediately bought the bird for $50,000 and had it delivered to his mother. The next day he phoned to see if she had received the bird. "What did you think of the bird?" he asked.

She replied, "It was delicious."

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An Arabic proverb says

“One who doesn’t know the Falcon, Grills it”

One who doesn’t know the purpose, doesn’t understand it

Everything around us has a purpose. Most of us can quickly tell what the purpose is for most everything with which we come into contact. The Mic here has a purpose, the Bible, the guitar, the drums, the pulpit, the chairs the lights, the PA system has a specific purpose. But when it comes to explaining our own purpose, for many it is a difficult, if not impossible, task.

Without purpose, there can be no means. Purpose is the one that gives us direction in all that we do. Without purpose, one tends to get lost faster.

It’s just like going on a journey – when you know where you’re going, then we can plan for the trip. So knowing the purpose is vital to whatever we do …

Illustration – Alice in Wonderland

Alice asks the Cheshire Cat, “Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here?” The cat says, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to”- Alice replies “I don't much care where” The cat then said, “Then it doesn't matter which way you go”

Knowing the value of what we have and the purpose of why we have it, gives us a clear direction.

Today, I am going to be speaking about the Purpose of the Church.

A few weeks back, Ps. Pyn was sharing that he wanted to emphasize the church in the church.

So I thought, it would be a good sermon to prepare. So I wrote down the main points of this sermon a few weeks ago, but as many people do, I prepared this whole sermon, last night only.

Until we know what our church exists for, we will have no foundation, no motivation, no direction, and no unity.

What is a church?

Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not a biblical understanding of the church. The word “church” comes from the Greek word “ekklesia” which is Ecc – out (same as ectoplasm, ectogenic, ectozoa, etc) and Kaleo – “to call” which can be translated as “an assembly” or “called-out one”.

But the English word “church” comes from a shortened form of another Greek word “Kuriakos” which means, “belonging to the Lord”.

In Romans 16:5- Paul refers to the church as the body of Christ and not a house. The body of Christ is the church and Jesus Christ is the head.

The body of Christ is comprised of two aspects namely;

a) The universal church- this consists of all those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ globally- 1 Corinthians 12:13, John 3:16, Ephesians 5:23-27

b) The local church- these are a group of those who believe in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who worship in the same locality and probably under a single denomination- Gal 1:1-2, 1 Cor 15:9, Gal 1:13

Let’s look at the 3-Fold Purpose of the Church

Three E-tions of the Purpose of the Church

Each Main point will begin with an “E” and end with “tion”

1. Exaltation

John 4:23 – “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him”

Exaltation of Christ is one of the Primary purposes why we exist on this earth as a church.

Christ died for us, shed His precious blood, gave His life and rose up again for this purpose that we may exalt Him in all that we do, we may worship Him.

Worshipping God, Exalting Him, Glorifying Him …

Actually I couldn’t find any other word for Worship other than Exaltation … I wanted my Main points to sync with one another …

Perhaps the grandest statement of His purpose can be found in Revelation 4:11, where we see heavenly beings gather in His praise, saying, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." And there we have it! God created us for His pleasure, for His ultimate good will, because it is best in His estimation.