ECCLESIOLOGY Part 11 - DEVELOPING A HEALTHY CHURCH CULTURE

Every local church has a culture. Culture is a sociological term. It encompasses what a community regards as: proper, acceptable, and honourable. Sociologists refer to these as morēs. Conversely, culture conveys what is: not proper, not acceptable, and is disgraceful and shameful. Sociologists refer to this negative behaviour as deviant. Culture celebrates what a community regards as important, and, what it frowns on. Every local church as a culture, but sometimes that culture is not entirely healthy. In this instalment in the Ecclesiology series, I am sharing some of the insights that we deal with in my church leadership seminar.

 

WHAT HEALTHY CULTURE ACHIEVES

The other week I saw a YouTube video of a Western tourist in Japan who showed a video of passengers on a Tokyo train. The passengers sat in an orderly fashion and were seated in silence. The tourist wondered if there was a Japanese law requiring the passengers to sit silently on the train. He found out that there was not. The reason the Japanese passengers sat on the train in silence was due to their culture. They didn’t need to be told to sit quietly – they just knew that it was the proper thing to do. This kind of positive culture is something any local church can achieve, if it works on the following two principles.

When I Kim and speak at a church for an extended weekend it is our mission to serve that church community and to help them to be even more effective in their mission to reach their community. This involves sharing on a Friday night with their youth or young adults about relationships; then sharing on a Saturday morning with Kim speaking to the ladies and myself speaking to the men; then a mid-morning leadership seminar with Board members/elders/team leaders;  a Saturday night dinner with the pastor/s elder/s; and on Sunday sharing in the morning service/s followed by an open (for anyone attend) Q&A luncheon. In the church leaders’ seminar we look at what makes for a healthy church. It is in this interactive seminar that we discuss the elements of what makes for a positive culture in a church. In essence, from my study, and the feedback we have received from these seminars, I can reduce what is needed are these two factors: firstly, the leader, and secondly, the attitude of the church.   

 

1. THE INDISPENSABLE RÔLE OF THE LEADER

The leader of a local church may be identified as the elder, pastor, senior pastor, senior minister, rector, or even the leader. Their title is not necessarily a critical issue. What is indispensable though is that they lead. It simply can not be overstated just how important their role is. The leader carries the weight of responsibility for the tone of a local church’s culture. It is not only the leader’s preaching which contributes to their culture-setting. It is their example –

• How they treat people, how they deal with interruptions,
• How they speak to their spouse and child/ren,
• How they interact with their staff and/or volunteers,
• How they manage their time,
• How they admit their mistakes,
• How they take correction,
• How they deliver correction,
• How they respond to tragedy,
• How they they open their home to show hospitality,
• How how they use those who are better than them,
• What they laugh at – or – what they get angry at, and,
• How they strive to improve their strengths and weaknesses. 

 

2. THE ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCH

While the leader is ultimately responsible for teaching sound doctrine and to exposit the Scriptures, as critically essential as this, it is not enough to ensure a positive and healthy church culture. It must be supplemented with a demonstrated explication of sound doctrine and the Scriptures. That is, a preacher can be a brilliantly powerful preacher who is an amazing teacher of God’s Word – but this is almost irrelevant if this preaching and teaching is not reflected in their godly attitude. When a leader consistently models a godly attitude it has an incalculably positive effect on their church’s attitude. Therefore, the senior leader must preach, teach, and model the biblical description of a godly attitude. This description is found in Colossians 3:12-17.

(12) ¶ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
(13) bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
(14) And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
(15) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
(16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
(17) And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
COLOSSIANS 3:12-17

If I was to list these attitude qualities, and then ask you, “How would you feel if your church was described by others as:

+  Compassionate

+ Kind

+ Humble

+ Meek

+ Patient

+ Forebearing

+ Forgiving

+ Loving

+ Harmonious

+ Peaceful

+ Thankful

+ Biblically literate

+ Wise

+ Prayerful and Pious (worshipful)

+ Sincere and holy?

Conclusion: The Gospel informs us that a culture can change. People can change. But what is needed are champions of cultural change who embrace the Church’s God ordained charge to be counter-cultural. When there is a champion of change – and better still – a champion team of change – building a healthy culture within a church is absolutely possible. And as this culture continue to be pursued I suspect that there will be many people who will be attracted to this church’s Christ-fragrance. Please pray that it does!

Amen.

Complementary Audio Podcast

ECCLESIOLOGY Part 2 - ECCLESIOLOGY HAS A PURPOSE

I have pioneered a church (Williamstown, Victoria). I have also served as a state church-planting director for the Tasmanian Assemblies of God. But over time I became increasingly concerned with helping existing churches. My last pastorate, where I was a senior pastor for twenty-nine years, had had two previous senior pastors. I finished up my time there with the intention of making sure it was ready for its fourth senior pastor. Since concluding my charge at Legana, I am now doing what I can to help other pastors who take on an established church. This is something I have been concerned about for some time. While there are challenges in pioneering a church, there are different challenges involved in taking on an established church — both for its new pastor, and its congregation (and especially for its staff). I admire church-planters; but, I really admire pastors who succeed another pastor and lead that church into sustained growth. After years of observing pastors who have successfully taken on an established church, I have noticed that there is always certain things they do which make it even more successful. While some denominational leaders are calling for increased church-planting, I’m calling for church-regeneration!

This is why ecclesiology is important because if someone is going to attempt to pastor and lead an established church, it is important to have an understanding of biblical ecclesiology. That is, it is important to understand what the church is - based on how the bible describes it. Here are the foundational points of ecclesiology that are essential for revitalising an established church:

Priority #1.  Refocus the church’s existence to give God glory. It does this through gathering together to offer worship together, to give heed to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word - the Bible. (Eph. 3:21)

Priority #2. Restructure the church as a body so that each part of the body functions accordingly. This requires that it be led by those who are gifted to do so. Just as a body is organised with each organ connected appropriately to function together as a whole, so it is with a church. Some believers are gifted to lead. Other believers are gifted to teach, or serve, or give, or encourage, or administrate, or show hospitality. Every believer should be able to contribute their gift or serve in some capacity (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23; 1Peter 2:5).  

Priority #3. Re-envisage the church as a functional family. The pastor has a fatherly duty to accept responsibility for creating a community of believers where people are known to each other, enabled to offer care to each other, and, to pray for and with each other. This necessarily involves having meals together in each others homes, and, together as a church family. When it meets together, children are safe, women are protected, and men are encouraged to be virtuous. Paul told Timothy that he should teach people how to treat older men and women, and younger women in particular - all with the respect (1Tim. 5:2; James 2:15). That is, people within a church should treat each other as family — as if they were brothers and sisters. The result of this re-envisaging will increasingly make the church attractive to people outside of the church who have no experience of family. This feeds into Priority #4. 

Priority #4,  Re-open hearts, minds, and hands, for the benefit of those outside of their church.  In 1944, Archbishop William Temple, famously said, “The church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.” Archbishop Temple was only partly correct. The first three priorities are for the benefit of a local church. This fourth priority will be the most challenging for any church a new pastor is attempting to revitalise. It will take the greatest amount of time to achieve - especially if the first three higher priorities are ignored. A wise new pastor will lovingly exercise his shepherd’s authority to gently broadcast to his congregation that together, they should pray for God to bring new attendees into their church. And when God answers their prayers, and visitors begin to come to their church, they should warmly welcome them. Similarly, a wise pastor will describe what a warm welcome looks like - and doesn't look like. 

One of the challenges that a new pastor and an established church will inevitably face in welcoming visitors to their church will be their self-perception. Many churches are comprised of friends. The challenge for such churches is to recognise that a church of friends is not necessarily a friendly church. Perhaps the best way for those who attend a church, where everyone is a friend, to recognise this, is for them to go and visit another church and experience what it is like to be a visitor to a church.

THE PURPOSES OF A LOCAL CHURCH

I have written here about the purposes of a local church [READ]. In the meantime, I trust that you can see from these 4 turn-around priorities for a church, that it is not simply to: “evangelise the lost”. But it certainly does include this, yet it may not be the sole purpose for a church every time they gather each Sunday. A great place to start in developing a biblically solid ecclesiology is Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. It is divided into six chapters and addresses six key relationships (one for each chapter) that are important for any local church. Over the next few instalments of this blog I will continue to expound on the implications of developing a such a sound ecclesiology by every senior pastor, and every congregation.

Dr. Andrew Corbett.

ECCLESIOLOGY Part 1 - SOME SAY CHURCH, BUT I SAY ECCLESIOLOGY

WE NEED TO TALK MORE ABOUT ECCLESIOLOGY 

Ecclesiology is the study of the Church. The reason we need to talk more about ecclesiology is that many people are involved in a church - or even leading a church - and yet they don’t know what GOD intends for a church to be. In the next few posts I will discuss the purpose of a church, the structure of a church, the importance of the assembling of a church, the mission of the church, the ministries of the church, and the propagation of the church. 

I am a student of the Church. Some of my earliest memories involve being in church. In fact, I have no recollection of never going to church on a Sunday. But, before I was a teenager, I knew that I was increasingly bored during the church services. On one occasion, I came up with an ingenious idea on how to get out of going to church. The idea came to me when I realised that if a car's battery went flat, the car could not start. I then reasoned, that if, on a Saturday, if I went to our family car and opened the car’s glove box - so that the little glovebox light would stay on, then, by Sunday morning, the car’s battery would probably become flat by then! The result would be that I wouldn’t have to go to church that Sunday. The next day, my younger brother and sister and I got into the family car to go off to church as usual. Only I knew that the car would not be able to start. But alas. It did start! And off to church we went. My plan had been foiled. Never again would I attempt such a less than genius plan. In fact, it wouldn’t be too long before going to church became one of my greatest delights.  

THE DAY CHAPPO TURNED UP

Before I was fifteen years of age, my church experience involved going into an old, dark building with a huge timber cathedral ceiling held together by hundreds of massive metal bolts. In the duller moments of the church service I would attempt to count the number of these bolts, but never successfully. Then one day, my world changed. The minister, Rev. Peter Payne, invited Canon John Chapman, from Sydney, to be the guest speaker. He spoke in a way that I had never heard anyone speak. He had my attention. Even though I had been going to church all of my life, I had never heard anyone speak like John Chapman. He obviously also had an impact on my parents too because, from that moment, my parents, and that means “we”, all went to church Sunday morning and evening services! 

When I turned 15 after the visit of Canon John Chapman, I went through the preparation for Confirmation. I met with Rev. Payne one-on-one as he unpacked the implications of the gospel. He asked me read Paul's Epistle to the Romans. I did so using the Living Bible, a recent paraphrase by Kenneth Taylor. By the time I finished reading Romans, my heart was transformed and my eyes were opened. Perhaps it was the seeds sown by John Chapman's recent visit, or the pastoral care and discipleship by the prayerful Peter Payne, or the careful reading of Paul's Epistle to the Romans, but the process of preparing for Confirmation was turning point in my life. In the ensuing years I was to have several more turning points, and with each turning point, I was to grow in my understanding of what a ‘Church’ was. The next turning point for me, and for my parents, was how the church seemed to force Peter Payne to leave our church.

WHO IS THAT PREACHER?

I was  probably too young to understand what had happened to Rev. Peter Payne after I was Confirmed. As far as I can recall, he was apparently “too evangelical”. At the time, I didn’t know what evangelical meant, but whatever it meant, it had apparently upset some of the members of the vestry to the extent that they wanted Rev. Payne to leave.

I cannot recall any message that Peter Payne preached. As I said earlier, I do recall Rev. Payne speaking to me during the Confirmation preparation. I also recall him coming around to our home to see my parents who were facing some challenges. Interestingly, it was a few years later, after I had begun the voracious habit of listening to audio cassettes from Bible teachers from the Christian Cassette Lending Library (New South Wales), that I found another cassette in our lounge room that I couldn't identify. I listened to it and was very impressed with the calibre of preacher. In fact, he was amazing. I wanted to hear more from this incredible preacher. I took the cassette out to have a closer look at it for any identification of who this preacher might be. To my astonishment, it was the Reverend Peter Payne! All those years of Sundays that I sat in the church when he was preaching there, and I couldn’t hear him! But after listening to him on that cassette, I realised what I must have actually been missing out on while I sat there during his sermons. Instead of listening, I had been trying to count wooden truss bolts! As a preacher this discovery has taught me the importance of ‘demanding’ that people listen to what I have prepared for the good of their soul in what I am preaching. This is one of the reasons why I have never read my notes during the sermon.

Murray Harkness

CONFIRMATION TO PENTECOST

The first time I visited a Pentecostal church was a Sunday night down the Bellarine Peninsular. My dad had been introduced to a Christian businessman, Murray Harkness, who was also a lay pastor of a small Pentecostal church. I was only 16-years old. My earliest memories of church was the church that I was confirmed in. Therefore, for most of my 16-years, I had only experienced a liturgical church. But this  little Ocean Grove Pentecostal church had no organ, no prayer book, no priest, no choir, and no order of service! I was well and truly out of my comfort zone. I suspect that Murray must have suggested to my parents that if they wanted to go to a Pentecostal church, there was one in downtown Geelong (instead driving all the way out to Ocean Grove). And this is how we came to become a part of the oddly named, Apostolic Church. The contrast between the church I grew up compared with the church that I fell into for nearly 5 years, contributed to my later fascination with what the bible prescribed for what constituted a church. This eventually led to a quest - a quest to understand as much as I could about Christ's plan for His Church. This is how I became a student of the Church and therefore the study of ecclesiology. If you're interested, I have things to share about what constitutes ‘a church’ in the next few posts. 

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

MATTHEW 16:17-19

Every Great Church Has These Three

THREE CHEERS FOR THESE THREE

I’m not sure why car wheels need balancing after their tyres are fitted, but without those little balancing weights strategically placed around the rim of the wheel, a car’s steering would vibrate and the car would veer one way or the other. These little counter-weights serve an invaluable role and deserve some credit. But counter-weights or “make-weights” don’t just occur on car wheels – they can be found in churches! In fact, every pastor whom God has used to lead a church to growth has never been able to do so with without those in their congregation who were counter-weights! 

PERSONALITIES, PORNOGRAPHY & PRIDE

The Corinthian Church was plagued with problems. It had suffered several church splits. There were people openly committing sexual immorality. Their church services had become known for occasions of debauchery and gluttony. And, worst of all, arrogance had set in – especially among those claiming to be the most spiritual. Yet the church was graced with three noble counter-weights: 

I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
First Corinthians 16:17-18

Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus were counter (or, as they used to be called, “make”) weights. Despite all the ungraciousness happening in their church, they were gracious and made up for its lack. The Apostle said that such people should be given due recognition. But they rarely are. They the hardy souls who make churches sweet and positive. They always lend a hand where they can. Nothing is too hard. F.W. Borehamsays of them-

It still happens that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus make up that which is lacking in our churches. But how do they do it? Never by negative methods. It is always done by something positive in their behaviour. They do not criticize or find fault or stress the weaknesses of the church to which they have attached themselves. They do not shout from the housetops that the church is cold and inhospitable; that nobody ever speaks to them; that the prayer-meeting is poorly attended and that few of the congregation read their Bibles. No, no; Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus adopt a more excellent way.F.W. Boreham, “MAKEWEIGHTS”, ‘Cliffs of Opal’, 1948, p. 66

Just like the little counter-weights on a car’s wheels, there are always some people in every church who seem to add joy and grace to that congregation. No pastor can succeed without such people! The challenge for such blessing-founts is that they rarely receive what the Apostle exhorted the rest of the church to give them: recognition. But the beauty of such people is that rarely look for it, and actually seem to shun it. 

If a car is rendered almost undriveable without these little balancing weights strategically placed around each wheel’s rim, it could be that many other facets of life are also unworkable without the “little” contributions that so many unrecognised people gladly make. I know that this is true of churches. In fact, I have come to believe that this is one of the greatest indicators of a church’s depth and maturity. While people may look at a church’s facilities, or judge it by the popularity of its preacher, or rate it by the breadth of its programs for youth and children, or even its music, I think most people evaluate a church by its tone and temperature. This is where our modern day Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus play their part. Without such grace-drenched souls in a church its tone is harsh and unforgiving and its temperature is always too cold.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. ¶ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty
First Corinthians 12:18-23

As I have watched Geoffrey construct our new auditorium with wood, hammers and nails, I wonder how many of us will look up in our newly completely house of worship at one of those nails in the ceiling and thank God for that nail? Probably none of us. It’s no different in a spiritual house. Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus just keep serving, encouraging, listening and caring, mostly without any attention or recognition at all. They are always making up for that which is lacking.

Dr. Boreham goes on to say about these noble servants of Christ that although Christ’s redemptive work was finished on the Cross, it wasn’t completed. 

‘It is finished!’ the Saviour exclaimed. It was the triumphant cry of the workman who had brought His masterpiece to absolute perfection with that finishing touch.
But think again! If Jesus, the Son of God, had died His bitter death on Calvary’s tree, and left it at that, would that have saved the world? Of course not. The world at large would never have heard of it. The tragic incident would have passed into oblivion within a year or two. Just another political execution in a Roman province! In order that the redeeming sacrifice might be made effective, and the world saved by means of it, it was necessary for the Apostles to suffer and to die in proclaiming it, for the martyrs to lay down their lives in defending it, and for missionaries like Xavier and Livingstone and Petteson and Williams and Chalmers to seal with their blood their testimony to its virtue.F.W. Boreham, “MAKEWEIGHTS”, ‘Cliffs of Opal’, 1948, p. 68

Thus, I would like to propose three cheers. One for our Stephanases. One for our Fortunatuses. And one for our Achaicuses! May God bless each one of them, for they are greatly needed by the Lord in every church as any pastor can tell you.

Pastor Andrew.

AFTER ALL THE EFFORTS TO GET RID OF IT, WHY IS THE CHURCH STILL HERE?

5 REASONS THE CHURCH IS STILL AROUND

It's actually remarkable. Considering the virulent, persistent, aggressive attacks on the Church over the past 1,985 years, it's remarkable that not only has the Church survived, but it has flourished and spread around the world. The fact that you attend a church today, in the twenty-first century, is due to five profound reasons that should lead the reader to wonder.

...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.JESUS OF NAZARETH (later of Capernaum) Matthew 16:18b 

The Church has survived through to the present day because it has been an agent of good and progress in the world. From its outset, the Church began to care for those the world deemed outcasts. This included, widows, orphans, lepers, and the aged.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."James 1:27 

This became the foundation for the establishment of hospitals, welfare agencies, and schools. The Christian worldview values each human being as bearing the image of God (imago dei) and therefore possessing inherent dignity. This means that a person who is newborn or even preborn is worthy of our care and support, as is a person with a highly contagious incurable disease, or a person at the end of their life.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."
John 13:34

An atheist was once decrying the missionary activity of Christians among Pacific Islanders - in particular, how Christians had "destroyed the existing native culture of the islanders." As chance would have it, there happened to be a person at that public meeting who was a native of one of the islands which the atheist had referred to. During the Q&A he asked the Professor whether he realised that his native ancestors had been cannibals? His question to the atheist professor continued, "Do you know what my ancestors would have done to you if you had arrived on our island before the Gospel came?" The audience instantly recognised that the Pacific Islander had shown the atheist's case to be ill-informed. Ravi Zacharias makes a similar point to atheists when he asks them how they might feel, if on a dark late night inner city street four pierced and tattooed large black men came out of a dimly lit alley carrying objects in their hands and were approaching you - if it would make any difference to how you felt if you learned that they were Christians who were just leaving their weekly BIble Sudy meeting? Yes, the Church has been a positive agent for good and progress in the world.

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Second Timothy 2:24-26 

The Church has given expression for mankind's most natural purpose: to worship God through singing, poetry, music, art, drama, and literature. The question for any person is never Do you worship? But, What or Who do you worship? Every person worships. Just as ducks are designed and created to paddle across water, fly closer toward the Equator in Winter, quack, and waddle - so every human being is designed and created to meet with other humans and worship the Creator who is the Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords.

All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name." Selah.Psalm 66:4

Jesus said that if people didn't declare the praises of God, "the stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). It should be every person's priority to be in the House of God with other worshipers worshiping The Lord of The Universe. Wise Christian parents know that their children learn more about devotion to God by what they see their parents do than what they hear their parents tell them they should do.

The Church's ministers have been agents of comfort, consolation, reconciliation, and guidance to people - often in their darkest days. Jesus described Himself as the "Good Shepherd' (John 10)and all who minister on His behalf follow in His blood-stained footprints and are to be His underShepherds. They are called to care, lead, guide, feed, tend to, watch over, the community given to them by Christ. Down through the past two millennia, literallly hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of men and women have done just that. Most of these ministers have gone unnoticed by the world, unknown to those outside of their charge, and often unappreciated by most in their charge - yet they have gladly laid down their lives for their community because of the deep love of Christ for God in their lives. 

In my own city of Launceston, ministers of The Christ played a tremendously important role in the establishment and ongoing welfare of our city. I think of Pastor John West, a Congregational Minister, who worked to abolish the convict colony and promote free speech by establishing The Examiner Newspaper. We could also reminisce about some of the more well now ministers of the Gospel who worked as agents of peace and inspiration - not just to their churches, but to their communities and nation. I think of Pastor Charles Simeon who served as the Pastor of Kings Church, Cambridge England for 53 years and contributed not just to the religious life of Cambridge, but its educational and social life as well. In the United States we think fondly of Pastor Martin Luther King Jnr and the amazing impact he led for the cause of Civil Rights there. In Australia, ministers such as F.W. Boreham and Gordon Moyes have contributed to the welfare of our nation and played a positive role in sport, business and politics.

The Church's establishment, spread, and sustainance is due to the decree of Jesus Christ and His abiding Word. Jesus Christ is the omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-present), omniscient (all-knowing), eternal, risen Lord. The Church is His "Plan A". He not only decreed that it should it be established (Matthew 16:18), He has decreed that it should spread throughout the world - 

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus Christ not only sustains the Church "unto the end of the age", He sustains every molecule in the cosmos!

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17 

The Church is the visible expression of the Kingdom of Christ now and a portend of its ultimate expression after all evil is vanquished from the Universe. It is a majestic sign and wonder to the limitless power and majesty of The Christ. It was prophesied of in Daniel 2:44 as a stone that struck the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's statue and then grew into a great mountain which filled the earth (Dan. 2:34-35). This speaks of Christ and His Body - the Church. 

The Church's existence has been enabled by the presence of the Holy Spirit Who has empowered Christ's followers as well as filling them Christ's presence and gifts, and has led and guided the Church througout the ages and world. The Church was conceived in the heart of Christ and born on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. The Church is comprised of Spirit regenerated, Spirit empowered, Spirit filled, Spirit baptised, Spirit enabled, Spirit led, followers of Christ. He is the "oil" in our "lamps" (Matthew 25) and He is the One that the Apostle Paul exhorted all believers should continually seek and be filled with (Eph. 4). 

The Church is no accident. The Church is no mere institutional legacy. The Church is not merely an organisation - it is an organism - the living body of Christ on earth. If you are a believer, you have the utter privilege of being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ! Sundays now are not for homework, time-to-yourself, time-with-the-family, but a day we dedicate to the One who declared - I am building!

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:21

See you Sunday.

Ps. Andrew

5 REASONS 4U TO BE (IN) CHURCH

When I first arrived in our city I was told two things about the existing Church here. Firstly, there were lots of them. In a city of 70,000 there were some 80 churches. Secondly, the biggest church in town was the Absent Church (the second biggest was the Roamin' Church). Over the past twenty years there has been little evidence to challenge this assessment. To have any chance of leading a church which could have its best chance of representing Christ and His Building Project to our city, I knew that I would have to commit for a lifetime and weather all storms. Over this time, my conviction about what God's Word says about the local church and my love for it has only grown. And although I am sympathetic to those who call themselves Christians yet absent themselves from a local church due to some bad experiences, I have little capacity that their vexation should be directed at Christ Himself.

...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.Matthew 16:18b 

It requires a good deal of foreign toughness for a pastor to weather church storms. I say 'foreign' toughness because it doesn't come naturally to most pastors, especially this one. Most real pastors are long-term pastors. They heed The Great Shepherd's words in John 10 to not flee when wolves ('adversity') come along. They stand and endure. They do this because they inherently love people. They think about people. They care for people. They carry people. They pray for people. They spend a deal of regular time seeking to grow in God's Word and grace so they can help others to do the same. But along the way people get upset and take offence. In leaving the pastor's congregation they seek to injure while claiming that they have been injured. In my younger days as a pastor this confused me and hurt a lot. 

While we pastors don't always live up to people's expectations of care and attention, I have discovered that this same sort of thing happened in the Bible to the best pastors it describes. For example, Moses was a great pastor. He met with God face to face. Yet he had complainterisers and opponents from within his own congregation. Most of this arose when he did the right thing. In life you too may discover (especially if you are a parent) that those you care for may push back hardest when you've done the necessary thing! All leaders soon discover that not doing the right thing at the right time is nearly always the easiest thing. Moses had to become 'tough' and do the right and necessary thing even when it was difficult to do so. As if his example is not enough, my mind often thinks about Jesus as a pastor. He preached a sermon one afternoon that led to 15,000 or so people turn away from following Him! (John 6) He then received numerous complaints and allegations of being "offensive". Added to this, of the 12 specially appointed disciples, one betrayed Him and another disowned Him! 

Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?"Matthew 15:12 

I have also discovered as a pastor, when you do the right thing, such as bring correction, some followers of Christ in your charge have not been sufficiently discipled to understand that correction is a Biblically necessary thing and that it is the means of God's grace for them to grow. It takes humility and a soft heart to be corrected. If we understand that the original sin wasn't so much about eating forbidden fruit as it was about the pride and arrogance to think that we (represented by Adam and Eve) could do so and get away with it! Thus, pride is our greatest obstacle to fellowship with God and attaining the beauty of Christlikeness, not the Devil, not temptations, not even acts of sin.

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
James 4:6

If you are in a church whose leaders have never been instruments of God's correction in your life - either from the public preaching or from private counsel - chances are you are rarely (if ever) offended. But greater still are the chances that your are not in a Biblically healthy church! 

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Second Timothy 2:24-26 

I love being a pastor. It is the most rewarding job in the world (next to being a husband and father). It is a privilege of the highest magnitude. And I similarly love being a member of a local church. The local church is God's means of grace to strengthen His children for the battles we each face in life. Simply by being together as a congregation of committed believers gathered under the ordinances of worship, partaking of the Lord's Table together, offering our prayers gifts and time, being instructed together from God's Word, and interacting with each other in fellowship (where our goal is the strengthening of our mutual relationship with God) - we are strengthened in our souls. It is a divine imperative - not a divine option - to do this weekly.

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.Hebrews 10:25

God is not done with the Church. On the contrary. God has ordained the Church to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-14), the pillar of truth (1Tim. 3:15), and the vessel of His grace (1Peter 4:10). God has ordained for you to follow Christ by being committed to a local body of believers constituted as a 'church'. Together then we serve God's 5 purposes for the Church. These include binge a community of believers who-

1. Worship God together.

2. Witness to the world about the truth and the nature / identity / character of God, His ways, His will and His Word.

3. Provide welfare to the needy.

4. Help people to attain wellness in body mind and soul.

5. Educate people about God and His creation, teaching people to read, write and reason to the glory of God.

God wants you to be in a church for the following reasons-

1. He has ordained the local church as the means of His grace for you (1Peter 4:10).

2. It is only through the local church that you can obey the imperatives for following Christ as listed in Romans 12:9-21.

3. By serving in the local church God is able to fashion you into the likeness of His Servant-Son (Matt. 20:28)

4. It is only through the local church that God has decreed for you to be equipped for works of leadership (Eph. 4:11-13).

5. By you prioritising your fellowship to be in Sunday worship with your local church you are part of a glorious witness that God is using to reveal Himself to the world (Eph. 3:10).

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:21

See you Sunday.

Ps. Andrew