The Purpose of the Church

The Purpose of the Church

The Church is:

A Place for Worship:
(Isaiah 56:7) Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

(Luke 24:53) And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.

A Place for Salvation:
(Acts 2:47) Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

A Place for Preaching:
(Acts 2:42) And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

A Place for Miracles:
(Acts 2:43) And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. A place where people can draw closer to the Lord: (James 4:8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Church Statement

Our Purpose is to: (Acts 2:42-47) And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (43) And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. (44) And all that believed were together, and had all things common; (45) And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (46) And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, (47) Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Love the Lord with all our hearts: (Mark 12:29-30) And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Worship Him in Spirit and Truth: (John 4:23-24) But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. (24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Sunday service is very important, because it is a time when we come together to worship the Lord in unity.

Love others: (Mark 12:31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

The best way to show our love to others is to reach out to them and share the gospel. We are called to share the Word of God with others: (Mark 16:15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Have true fellowship. True fellowship with the Lord and other believers. We do this both in the church and in the home. We come to church to worship the Lord and hear the preaching of His Word:

(1 Corinthians 1:18,21) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (21) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

True fellowship is having unity in the church, unity between us and the Lord, and unity between the church members.

(Psalm 133:1) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

(Ephesians 4:3,13) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

(Colossians 2:2) That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

Be a Disciple. True discipleship is following to know the Lord in a greater way:

(Hosea 6:3) Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

(Philippians 3:10-16) That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (11) If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. (12) Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (15) Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. (16) Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

Let us walk together as we follow the Lord. Let us study the word of God for ourselves: (2 Timothy 2:15) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Serve the Lord. We all have our work to do in the church:

(1 Corinthians 12:14, 18, 31) For the body is not one member, but many. (18) But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. (31) But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

(Ephesians 4:1-7) I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (4) There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (7) But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

We are all to seek the Lord to see what He wants us to do in the church. Ask not - What can the church do for me? But ask - What can I do for the church?