Lesson 3: The Church Is Jesus

A. INTRODUCTION

1. The emergent church says, “They like Jesus but not the church.”

2. What goes together? The Lone Ranger and Tonto, Laurel and Hardy, Laverne and Shirley, Dagwood and Blondie, Simon and Garfunkel. So, the church and Jesus go together.

3. A vast majority have examined Christianity and rejected it.

4. Maybe in their sins they are blinded to Jesus.

5. Maybe the church is misguided about who it is, and what it is supposed to be about.

6. The church has taken on a wrongly conceived constantinian model: Building + Clergy + Program = Church.

7. The church must take on a missional model: Body + Mission + Kingdom = Church.

8. The constantinian model is centripetal, i.e., moving to the center. The church must be centrifugal, i.e., moving outward.

9. The centripetal model, i.e., a Wal-Mart for Jesus, providing vast religious goods and services at a central location.

10. The centrifugal, i.e., we go everywhere as message and mission.

B. THE CHURCH IS A BODY

“He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything” (Col. 1:18, CSB).

1. A body is a container and transporter. As such a body is all the strengths, thoughts, and aspirations of the person it contains.

2. Just as our body contains us, so the church body holds Christ. “Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another” (Rom. 12:4-5, CSB).

3. The development of paid clergy meant ministers did work of Christ. Nothing could be further from the truth.

4. We all minister. “You are a chosen people to serve Him, a chosen priesthood to minster for Him and a proclaimer of His praises” (I Peter 2:9, ELT).

5. Clergy are given to train people for ministry. “He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12, CSB).

6. Because we are His body, everyone works.

7. Why is this not happening?

a. We get lost in the crowd

b. We become just attendees

c. We do things we are not gifted to do

d. We don’t relate to one another, i.e., dismemberment

e. We see church as a building, not a movement

C. THE CHURCH IS A BRIDE

“Husbands, love your wives, Col 3:19; 1 Pt 3:7just as also Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her,

to make her holy, cleansing Or having cleansedher in the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:25-26, CSB).

1. While some believers give up on the church, Christ has not.

2. The church was not “plan B” when Israel failed, and Christ doesn’t have a “plan B” if the church fails.

3. It is impossible to show love for Christ, and ignore or attack His bride.

4. Remember what will happen in heaven, “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself” (Rev. 19:7, CSB).

5. The church is not the center of God, Jesus is the center; the church is central to His plan.

D. THE CHURCH IN ACTION

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, Peter (Gk Petros) = a specific stone or rock and on this rock Rock (Gk petra) = a rocky crag or bedrock I will build My church, and the forces Lit gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18, CSB).

1. Church means gathering or assembly, i.e., ek = out, Kaleo = called.

2. Too much emphasis on building, and not enough on gathering each week.

3. Rome persecuted the church. It has survived poverty, prosperity, boring preachers and inactivity.

4. Wars, philosophy, scandals, haven’t killed it.

5. Because the message of Jesus is life-changing, the church is continually growing by new believers who are added to it. On Pentecost, “That day about 3,000 were added to them” (Acts 2:41, CSB).

6. The new church was dynamic. “And every day they devoted themselves to meeting The bracketed text has been added for clarity. together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house

. . . praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47, CSB).

7. They looked after the needs of one another. “For there was not a needy person among them . . . this was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need” (Acts 4:34-35, CSB).

8. Every time the Bible makes reference to money, it mentions the generosity of the church people.