We often say that context in reading Scripture is everything. But, getting the right verse is pretty important as well.
At a wedding one of those involved was supposed to read
1 John 4:18 NASB which says,
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”
Instead they read John 4:18 NASB which says,
“For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
This past week Pastor Karenlee started leading some classes on membership in the church.
What are the foundational doctrines of The Church of The Nazarene?
What do we believe? Why do we believe what we believe?
And, since they are looking at what and who we are we need to ask the question, “Why do we exist or for that matter, why does any church exist?”
Is the church relevant today?
First we need to define “church”. There is the universal church which is made up of all who have been born again; those who have placed their faith and trust in Jesus for salvation.
This universal church is comprised of local church assemblies comprised of people who live in the general vicinity of that church.
So, we’re going to establish a premise and see if it’s true or false …
Premise …
The Bible intends for every person to be part of a local church.
So, in order to evaluate that premise statement we will look at the Bible which is where we seek all of our truth.
Of course, this is assuming that a Bible preaching, Christ centered church is available for the person to attend.
It is also assuming that the person is willing to make an exerted effort to get to such a church on a regular basis even if it involves overcoming difficulties such as distance, transportation and health.
So, in order to answer this address this premise we need a witness and our witness is the actions of the Apostle Paul in the Bible!
Was the Apostle Paul a member of a church?
Today the Scriptures will be from the Lexham English Bible. (Explain the LEB based on what THEY say about the translation and how it should be used.)
Let’s start out by looking at Acts 13:1-3 LEB
“Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch in the church that was there: Barnabas, and Simeon (who was called Niger), and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
“And while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them away.”
Here we see that there was an organized church in Antioch.
We also see that Saul, later to be called Paul, was a participating member of that church.
There were people in authority in the church in Antioch.
The church in Antioch fasted and prayed for Barnabas and Saul and sent them out into the mission field.
Where did they preach?
Salamis (13:5)
Paphos (13:6)
Pisidian Antioch (13:14)
Iconium (13:51)
Lystra and Derby (14:6)
OK, so we see that they have preached in at least six cities and now they are headed back to the sending church in Antioch.
Did anyone come to place their faith in Jesus in any of those cities?
Were churches established?
Let’s see … Acts 14:21-23 LEB
“And after they had proclaimed the good news in that city (Derby) and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples …
“… encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying, ‘Through many persecutions it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of God.’
“And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, after praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.”
Also, on this return trip to Antioch they stopped to preach in Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga and Attalia.
Acts 14:26-27 LEB
“From [Attalia] they sailed away to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed.
“And when they arrived and called the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.”
Paul and Barnabas:
Were part of the church family at Antioch
Were sent out as missionaries from the church at Antioch
Established churches during their travels (appointing elders)
Reported their work to their home church at Antioch
Premise reminder …
The Bible intends for every person to be part of a local church.
The witness of Paul and Barnabus’ first missionary journey indicates that the local church itself was very important to the Apostles and to the Holy Spirit since He selected them and appointed them to the task.
This is the example we follow today!
Ministerial licensing is initiated by request to the Local church
Ministerial licensing leading to ordination of elders and deacons
These are sent out as pastors, missionaries and chaplains
These plant new churches and oversee existing churches
These are required to report annually to the church body, the district and
the general church
So, what about the witness of the rest of the NT regarding local churches?
The phrases, “to the church”, “to the churches”, “the church in” and “the church of” are mentioned multiple times in the Bible.
City Churches:
Antioch (Pisidia) , Antioch (Syria), Athens, Babylon, Berea, Caesarea, Cenchrea, Colossae, Corinth, Crete, Cyrene, Damascus, Derbe, Ephesus, Hierapolis, Iconium, Jerusalem, Joppa, Laodicea, Lydda, Lystra, Pergamum, Philadelphia. Philippi, Puteoli, Rome, Sardis, Sharon, Smyrna, Tarsus, Thessalonica, Thyatira, Troas
Regions of churches:
Phoencia, Samaria, Judea, Galatia, Asia, Macedonia
Many letters were written to the churches during the first century. The ones that made it into the Bible are 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians
There are general church letters which were to be widely read among all churches such as Romans, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude and Revelation.
There were letters intended to train pastors for work in the local churches such as 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.
Finally, there was a letter to Philemon which was also read in his home church and circulated among various churches.
There is such a heavy emphasis on establishing local churches and growing them in the faith that it is almost impossible to believe that the Lord did not intend them to be an essential structure in the universal church, the body of Christ.
The Lord was also diligent to establish and instruct church leaders.
We have already mentioned the pastoral epistles of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus.
There is also much proof from Scripture that the Lord intended a certain structure within the local church.
Acts 20:28 LEB
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He obtained through the blood of His own Son.”
Ephesians 4:11-13 LEB
“And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ …
“… until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ.”
What would be the functions of pastors and teachers if there was no local church?
What work of the ministry would there be without the local church?
How could the body of Christ be built up without the local church?
What unity could there be if we were out wandering alone with no local church?
Can you imagine the apostles spreading out among the cities, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many coming to salvation and then just leaving them all alone with no teaching or guidance?
Can you imagine the apostles saying, “You don’t really need to get together for anything. You’ll be just fine on your own.”
Robin Lemke, "I don't think there is any question in Scripture that God expects us to come together in a community to worship Him and support each other. The thrust of the New Testament from Acts onward is about followers of Christ risking their lives and freedom to make believers and establish churches. Nowhere does Paul or Silas or Peter go into a city to make believers, then send them home and expect them to simply pray by themselves and in so doing follow Christ."
That’s not what he said! Look at these verses!
Colossians 4:16 LEB
“And whenever this letter is read among you, see to it that it is read also among the Laodicean church, and that you also read the letter from Laodicea.”
1 Thessalonians 5:27-28 LEB
“I adjure you by the Lord, have this letter read aloud to all the brothers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
OK. So we see that on the very first missionary journey the servants of the Lord are preaching to unbelievers who were converted and they set up local churches for those believers.
We also see that letters were written to instruct local churches and that they were circulated among the various churches.
We see that the Lord selected people as prophets, apostles, evangelists, preachers and teachers to serve the local churches.
What did it cost the Lord to purchase the church?
Once again from Acts 20:28 LEB
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He obtained through the blood of His own Son.”
You just cannot read the New Testament and arrive at any other conclusion than that the church, universal and local are foundational to Christianity and to Christians.
So, when you see statement such as “I don’t need the church” you need to ask, “What’s wrong with that statement?”
The problem is the big “I”. “I don’t need …”
It’s just Jesus and me!
Does anyone here remember the Lone Ranger?
The Lone Ranger never needed training in weapons or tactics.
The Lone Ranger never needed to radio for backup.
The Lone Ranger was never associated with any validated law enforcement group.
There is no hint of any Lone Ranger Christians anywhere in the Bible. Why?
Because, the Lord never intended us to be Lone Rangers!
Here are a few phrases from the Bible regarding relationship versus going it alone
be devoted to one another and honor one another (Romans 12:10),
instruct one another (Romans 15:14),
be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32),
encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11),
and most importantly, love one another (1 John 3:11)
Being a Lone Ranger Christian means
No devotion to or honoring other disciples of Christ
No instruction from other Christians
No ability to show kindness and compassion to other Christians
No access to encouraging one another
No ability to love other Christians
You can’t love Jesus and hate His bride.
How was your week?
Imagine that you had a very difficult week. Turmoil of every kind. You couldn’t sleep at night because of the situations.
Sunday morning arrives and you head to church.
People who love you greet you with hugs and words of encouragement.
Perhaps you start out singing, What a Friend we have in Jesus and you’re reminded of His great love for you and His constant awareness of your needs.
It’s time for greeting each other and you get more hugs and words of encouragement.
More worship of our Great Lord, the Head of the Church in song.
Offering time comes and you’re reminded of the way the Lord supplied even in this time of grief and turmoil.
More worship, perhaps ending with “All is Well” or “It is Well With My Soul” and your heart is lifted up to the Father.
We lift our hearts together in prayer for all who are suffering and to ask that the Lord would make us a beacon of His Light in Arcade and the surrounding areas.
We hear from God’s magnificent Holy Word.
Perhaps God Word teaches us or rebukes us or corrects us or trains us in righteousness or just simply encourages us but it does something to us.
We commit to being more like Christ this coming week than we have ever been.
We leave encouraged in spite of the ongoing struggle.
Let me ask you. Can you do that all by yourself?
Premise …
The Bible intends for every person to be part of a local church.
True.
That’s the way God intended it to be.
When He intends it to be that way it won’t work any other way.
Hebrews 10:24-25 LEB
“And let us think about how to stir one another up to love and good works, not abandoning our meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging each other, and by so much more as you see the day drawing near.”
Thank you, Jesus for the body of Christ, universal and local! PTL!!
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(Additional information not used in the sermon)
Robin Lemke, "I know that people say they don't need church, but anytime we gather together, God promises to be with us. What could be more enticing than God's presence? Why wouldn't we go where God promises to be?"
Emily R. Geyer, "I don't go to church out of obligation, but because I desire to worship Jesus in a place that is set aside for him, a consecrated space. It's very different than a Bible Study in my living room or just praying in my car."
Thomas is also known to have gone to Persia and from there he went to India and preached the Gospel making many converts. It is believed that Thomas arrived in India no later than 49 AD.
It is also believed that the apostle Thomas evangelized as far as China.
