Cornerstone Baptist Church exists to glorify God by helping believers become more like Christ through Worship, Instruction, Fellowship and Evangelism.
It is always good to remind ourselves of who we are and what our vision and mission is. I am going to dedicate the early blogs of this year to reviewing these important matters. Beginning with, what is a church?
The English word “church” is translated from the NT word ekklesia. “Ekklesia” tells us how important the church is to Christ and Christ is to the church. This word occurs 114 times in the NT. It refers to assemblies or gatherings. Jesus is the founder of the church and he calls it “my church” in Matthew 16:18. Just as Adam named his bride (Eve), so Christ names the church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus is clearly referring to all of the New Covenant people of God that he calls “my church.” But most of the time when the word (ekklesia) is used it refers to specific assemblies in the specific places that gather at specific times. This happens in Jerusalem, Antioch, Derbe, Lystra and Ephesus. Paul also states that Jesus bought the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28).
When Paul writes to the churches (as he does in his epistles) he normally thinks first of an actual assembly of known persons who have professed faith in Christ, have been baptized by immersion at a specific place upon their profession of faith and have joined themselves to and been received by this specific group of people, all of whom have done the same (professed faith in Christ and have been baptized by immersion). There is no such thing as an online church. It does not exist. In the books of Ephesians and Colossians, Paul speaks of the relationship between Christ and the church in terms of a husband and wife and in terms of the head and the body. This tells us not only how important and essential the church is to Jesus, but how essential and important Jesus is to the church.
The church (a local assembly of identifiable Christians) is a major focal point of the New Testament. The church is what Jesus bought, named, died for, and will return for. She is his bride and therefore, the church is hugely important.
God made the world as a reflection of his glory, and to be a place for people. Humans are the highest order of his creation and we were made in his image and after his likeness. Humans were made with the capacity to relate to God and reflect God in a way that no other aspect of his creation could. We were made in his image. As a Triune God, God made us to be relational. As such, people who follow Christ are called to follow Christ together with other Christians and form churches. A true and healthy local church makes the gospel visible, puts Christ on display and it helps its members follow Jesus better. The church began in Acts 2 with the baptism of the Spirit. This event was the fulfillment of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel who prophesied about the New Covenant that God was going to make with his people. We are the New Covenant people of God. We are here to make the gospel visible and to be representatives of another kingdom. Jesus is going to return and establish his kingdom. God has raised up the church to be a preview of that kingdom. We are to enjoy relationships with other believers now in such a way that our lives point them to the kingdom of God that is coming. The local church is an outpost of the kingdom that is coming and an embassy of another nation. We are ambassadors of the earth’s true king, Jesus Christ. Faithful and healthy churches tend to be unusual because establishing and protecting a healthy church is hard work. But the church is the bride of Christ and Jesus is worth a beautiful bride.
Press On,
Bob
Sunday’s Text: Luke 16:14-18