Most people who hear the word church envision a building where believers gather to worship. According to the bible, a church does not necessarily mean a building. Most Christians view the church as a building but majorly as a group of people who come together in worship. As much as different people could have a different view on what the church is and the purpose that it serves, the church refers to a gathering of God’s congregation that gathers together with the sole purpose of worship. The building only facilitates worship and is composed of those people who believe in Jesus Christ. Evangelists have used the church over the past years to spread the gospel across the world. This aspect makes the church to be viewed as a unique place that is meant to meet the needs of the Christians that are committed to it.
When speaking about the church, theologians often use unique terms such as visible and local churches, unlike invisible and universal churches. The visible local church refers to all the physical churches around the world, including the church members. The universal and invisible churches refer to all believers from all walks of life united as one church and united as Christ, which does not involve gathering together in a church.
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All those individuals who belong to the universal church are true believers, but this is not always the case for visible and local churches. Therefore, it is essential to understand some fundamental differences between the visible and universal church, not to get confused with the practices carried out by infallible churches and the procedures carried on in the universal churches. As much as the visible and local churches host non-believers, the churches’ believers have their weaknesses and are not perfect. This aspect results in challenges and tension in visible churches are people expect Christians and the worshippers to be perfect people.
What The Church Does
The church is not a mere building but a body of believers who come together with a purpose of worship. The church has many roles but has its foundation for worship, evangelism, edification, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and worship.
A place to worship
The first Christians worshipped in any places that they found safe and conducive to talk to God. The custom of setting up churches as a place to worship resulted from the dedication that God’s worshippers had, which pushed them to come up with shrines and separate places ad houses that were meant to enhance the purpose of worship. “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20: 28) Cosgrove . This bible verse indicates that Jesus himself proclaimed the church as a place of worship (Cosgrove, 1984) . Another verse that suggests that the church is a place of worship is Exodus 25: 8, which says that “Let me make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. “This verse indicates that from the origin of the world, the church was created by God with a purpose for it to be a place where God can dwell. Christians gather together in the church as a united community. In his teachings, Jesus taught his disciples that he would be present among those people who gather together to worship him. This is why churches are advocated to be places of worship as they enhanced Christians gathering together (Cowney, 1995) .
Evangelism
Evangelism is another purpose of the church, which is the ultimate goal of any church that focuses on spreading God’s word. All activities carried out in the church must contribute to evangelism. Christians are commanded to tell everyone about Jesus through evangelism in the church. It is about sharing goods news that concerns Jesus with other people. According to the bible verse, Mark 16: 15, “Go into the world and preach the good news to everyone.” This bible verse goes hand in hand with the church’s purpose, which is to spread the good news about Jesus to the people who gather in worship. God has called on people to spread the good news through the gospel (Green, 2004). For God’s men to be able to tell people about Jesus, they must have a platform where individuals can gather to receive the good news, which is the reason behind the construction of churches.
Fellowship and proclaiming the gospel
Fellowship in Christianity means being part of a group and a body of the people. Christians meet in the church to form a group whereby they communicate to God together as one people. Having the church as a place to worship provides Christians with the opportunity to meet other Christians and worship together. It is essential for people who have the same beliefs to meet because this makes them feel like part of a community of believers who have a common purpose of expressing their faith (DeYoung & Gilbert, 2011) .
The bible’s description of fellowship according to Acts 2: 42 is that “And they steadfast persevered, devoting themselves constantly to the instruction and fellowship of the apostle, to the breaking of bread (including the Lord’s Supper) and prayer.” This verse indicates that Christians could meet up together from the past days, share bread, and pray together. This verse clearly shows that the church is meant to enhance fellowship because it is a practice that existed from the early church. “And day after day, they regularly assembled in the temple with united purpose, and in their homes, they broke bread” (Acts 2: 46).
Ministry
The church has the function of ministry the word of God to people. Christian ministry is the active responsibility of the church to fulfill its biblical expectations. The ministry of the church can be described as a way of fulfilling the commandments of God. Matthew 22: 37-37 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. “This bible verse indicates that people come together in church to ministry as a way of indicating the love they have for others. Among the objectives of the Christian church is to ministry, and this can be related to Apostle Paul’s terms as “Equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for edifying the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and knowledge of the son of God.” Therefore, ministering in the church is a way of pulling other people closer to God and bringing light to the lost souls who do not know about Jesus Christ (Patton, 2002).
Discipleship
Just like Jesus and his disciples met together to learn and spread the word of God, the church is meant to enhance a continuation of the practice of discipleship. Discipleship encourages the church members to go after the lost people and bring them back to church so that they can seek the salvation of God. Church members gather together with compassion to serve the lost ones and the knowledge to speak the words that bring life to the dead in faith. According to Matthew 28: 19-20, the bible advocated for discipleship as the church’s role. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father of the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” This bible verse indicated that Jesus gave his disciples, which at that time formed the early church, a responsibility to make disciples.
Meeting the Needs
The church has the purpose of meeting the needs of those communities that live around them. This is done through charities whereby the church helps the poor by meeting the needs of poor people. It is not only about meeting the physical needs but the spiritual needs as well. Church members provide soul nourishment to people who feel like they have lost hope in life. For instance, the church has several groups that collect information about the poor people in the community and collect foodstuffs from the church’s willing members and donate to such individuals. According to the bible verse Galatians 2: 10, “All they asked was that we should remember the poor, the very thing I had have been eager to do all along,” This bible scripture indicates the obligation that the bible has for the church to help the needy in society.
Most churches have come up with schools that help children from poor backgrounds to access education. Most churches have come up with small group ministries and outreach services that reach out to people for ministry. Assisting people through ministries can help the church incorporate into the community in which it operates. The church can provide counseling services and provide free advice to individuals who need psychological help. The early church that comprised of Jesus and his disciples helped the needy. Through evangelism. Jesus shared fish and bread with the people who had gathered and that was an action that continues to be carried out in the church through the holy communion.
References
Cosgrove, C. H. (1984). The Divine Ei in Luke-Acts. Novum testamentum , 26 (2), 168-190.
Cowney. E. (1995). The Church (Contours of Christian theology): Clowney, Edmund
DeYoung, K., & Gilbert, G. (2011). What is the mission of the church?: Making sense of social justice, shalom, and the great commission . Crossway.
Green, M. (2004). Evangelism in the early church . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Patton, J. H. (2002). Pastoral Counseling: A Ministry of the Church: A Ministry of the Church . Wipf and Stock Publishers.
