The Mission of the Church is Mission
However we look at the purpose of the Church in the world today we cannot avoid the fundamental truths that God created us to firstly have communion with Him; then to fellowship with others who have also come to believe in the saving work of Christ; and also to witness to the lost who live in our midst. These three things I believe are inseparable and I want to focus on the last point after making some brief comments about the first two.
God did not leave us in doubt about His love for mankind when we read throughout the Old and New Testaments about His provision of a way back to Him, even though it was Man who rebelled against God and so deserves His wrath. Many times we see how God made covenants (agreements with a promise) with men of old such as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, and countless numbers of prophets. Mostly the promises of God are that He is selecting a people for Himself, the children of Israel, and these special people are chosen to be a light to the rest of the world, witnessing God’s goodness and mercy to them. The aspects of God’s choosing and calling His people, and gathering them together as a community are preparatory for the ultimate purpose of God’s will – that all people on earth will worship God and receive salvation from Him.
Abraham was given the promise that he was ‘blessed to be a blessing’ (Genesis 12:1-3). While he never saw the fulfilment of this promise Abraham is remembered throughout history as the man who ‘believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’ (Romans 4:3). The Psalmist tells us that all people are meant to ‘be glad and sing for joy’ as they praise God (Psalm 67). It was God’s intention that through His people God’s ‘way may...
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...ted or not, Jesus makes no distinction. We are called to witness to our neighbours (and our enemies if you can manage it), our friends, our relatives, our work colleagues, our classmates, even our bosses. And we don’t even have to venture outside the sphere of our own circle of influence. Imagine if all believers did that at least!
The Church doesn’t exist for itself, never has done. Our purpose is to carry on where Jesus began. During His life he went through all the towns and villages of Judaea and Galilee, telling people about the Kingdom of God, healing their diseases, casting out demons and raising the dead. It is through the Church today that Jesus wants this saving work to continue, and as we seem to have reached the ‘ends of the earth’, keep looking for those who need to be saved. Will you join me in saying and living “The Mission of the Church is Mission”?
In a survey conducted in 2012, LifeWay.com inquired about the importance of evangelism among members of the Christian faith. The results of the survey showed that 80 percent of people who claimed to follow Jesus Christ and had openly devoted themselves to the teaching of Christianity, felt that they had a “personal responsibility to share their religious views and beliefs about Jesus Christ with non-christians” (Wilke, LifeWay.com). Surveys such as this reflect the Christian doctrine of evangelism and the weight it holds within the Christian faith. As can be seen back in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ commanded His followers “to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).” However, Jesus never told His followers how doing this.
In conclusion, the church is appointed and maintained divinely body of regenerated believers who sustain the true doctrine of God, humanity, Scripture, Jesus Christ, and salvation which are absolutely non-negotiable.
In the narrative in the book of Genesis, there are two main objectives. The first is a general goal to create a complex world designed for ideal human existence according to divinely legislated principles. The second is God's desire to establish a great nation within this world. According to the narrative, God aims to achieve these goals by constructing frameworks for his goals and then enlisting carious humans to help see them to fruition. However, as amply demonstrated in Genesis, the human variable is volatile and frequently confronts God with instances of insubordination.
From the beginning of Genesis till the end of Revelations, none could deceive God. God gave people the knowledge, God gave people everything that they need to follow Him and fulfill His command. For example, God gave Moses enough details for rituals that were about to happen in a specific time and location, and even the reason why what was going to happen would take place. God gave His people a chance that to show their obedience to His ways and show those rituals, sacrifice and offering to Him. Instead of following Him, people chose to follow their hearts, which made them became sinners, and became the subject for God’s judgment. But He loved His creations so much, He sent out His only son to the world to wash human being’s sins away. In Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6).” God always wants His people to follow Him with their full heart. The only way to God is through His son Jesus. He promised people if they accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, He would bless them. It is such a powerful promise which should passed by
The church has more than one definition. The local church, which is a body of believers that have a specific place that they gather to worship and study the Word of God. The other definition is the Body of Christ, which includes every person that has accepted Christ as personal Lord and Savior. Both of these “organisms” preach and nurture Christians, which is missions.” God birthed the church, and when the church puts God at the center of the church, the focus of the church will change from being a church centered mission to a mission centered church and God will begin to use the church as His instrument for missions. Jesus after He was raised from the dead told all of His followers to proclaim that salvation was complete through His death burial and resurrection and it was/is free to those who will receive it. (Luke 24:44-48) The church has been divinely appointed by God to get the Gospel out into the world. The work of the church and God’s message of salvation will be for nothing if the church is not obedient and follow through with the instructions that God has tasked it with. (Acts 10:36) When the church is in line with God’s intention and is Spirit led, God the Father will be preparing hearts, Christ the Son will invite “whosoever will” and the Holy Spirit will convict and draw sinners to respond. (Rev.
Humans are rational beings that use their intellect to try an achieve some sort of sense of the world, in other words truth. Truth is something that can not be denied as false. Since all humans are not part of the same culture, humanity as a whole does not share the exact notion of what is considered to be true. Humanity tries to achieve or know the truth through various outlets or practices. These different belief systems are understood to have been formed from their specific culture. Obviously, humanity has many different cultures and with that comes many different forms of truth seeking. There is one religion that claims to have the fullness of truth. That religion is the faith of Catholicism which means the Universal Church. Through Jesus Christ the founder and messianic figure of Catholicism, his Bride, the Church claims to unite humanity under the fullness of truth through the succession of Peter and tradition.
2) The witness that the church seeks to give in helping in the search for
The church in today’s world have very low standards. We are disregarding the active sins of the believers in the churches and are not ready to take a stand and speak to them about it. As a result of this churches are encouraging adultery, envy, strife, unforgiveness and lack of love which is taking us away from God on a daily basis. God will give us a time to repent but one day he will judge the church and the nation just like Israel so that we come back to him (Beckham, n.d.).
God does not enter into any relationship without entering into a covenant. A covenant must consist of a relationship between humankind and God; and, it is eternal, which is why it is called an everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant can only be broken if man fails to maintain an intimate and personal relationship with God or chooses separation from God through sin, as was the case with Israel. Their hearts had strayed and many sins entered their lives. It was not God who divorced Israel, but Israel’s sins broke the everlasting covenant with God that produced a temporary separation from Him. However, in His loving mercy, He had a plan of salvation that would involve not only Israel but, all of humankind with an everlasting covenant that would reconcile those who desired to be in a relationship with Him. This section will discuss the identity and significance of the everlasting covenant to show that God was faithful to keep His promise of the everlasting covenant
There is more emphasis on outward blessings or material blessings in the Old Testament. The New Testament helps us to focus more on the inward or spiritual blessings of God (Elwell, Walter A., 1997). God’s promise to Abraham that all people would be blessed through him is an early example of this idea of outward blessings. In Genesis 12:2, God speaks of prosperity in Abraham’s life making his name great and enlarging his territory through his descendents and those he fathers in the spiritual sense (NKJV). There are three main themes that attach themselves to the meaning of blessi...
The ideal of unity seems to be of great importance in the religious world, but rarely is it ever achieved among professed Christians. However, it is vitally important to comprehend unity in its Biblical light. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all may be one, as thou, Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” By definition, unity is the state of being one. In order to have a unified church every member must be one one with the Father and the Son. Subsequently, to achieve such an oneness, each member must be perfectly holy, because God is holy. Unfortunately, this is where a clear contrast is made between the saints and mere religious professors.
The church is a place in which many come to find a sense of belonging, comfort, and purpose. It's through these three qualities which have drawn and maintained many church goers throughout the years.
Abraham did not hesitate to carry out God’s orders. To receive the blessings God has for us, we must be obedient and we must carry out his orders exactly as instructed. When God has a plan and gives us an order, we must act on it immediately. Blessings may not always come when expected. God has set aside a season or time for which our plan will be implemented.
... the same or else the church could not claim itself to be the body of Christ. And as the body of Christ, the church should be an inclusive community of Christian faith, or else it again is in conflict with the mission of Jesus Christ.