Building Church

By Gerry Straker, 03 Sep 2015

What is God doing in this world?

The surprising answer is: Church!

• Not a building
• Not a denomination
• Not a meeting

But God’s people. In the book of Ephesians, Church is:

• Christ’s body for Him to rule (1:22-23)
• God’s victory over the devil (3:10)
• God’s eternal purpose (3:11)
• Why Christ died (3:11)
• For God’s glory (3:21)
• Christ’s bride for Him to love and care for (5:25-32)

Church is what God is doing in this world!  Church is massive. Paul is talking here about the whole Church - all God's people. But, at the same time he is writing to a church: the church in Ephesus. So local church is what God is doing in this world. And of course if that’s what God is doing, then local church is what we’re to do in this world.

So how are we going to be and do Church? Ephesians tells us:

1. Word

Christ preaches (2:17); Christ gave preachers (2:20); Christ gives preachers (4:11); Christ wants the Church to preach (4:15). It’s the Word of God that makes new disciples and grows disciples. When the Word of God is the first thing in a Church, then everything else we should be doing will follow.

2. Family

God’s Word creates His Family. And so we are to:

• Live together. We are to share our lives with one another - close enough to need the command to bear with one another (4:2-3)!
• Welcome in. We are welcomed into the family (2:18) and so we want to be a thoroughly welcoming family.
• Go out. Jesus went to get us (2:17). We can’t wait until people come to us! We need go out and speak God's Word and show people God’s Family.

3. Training

We all need training as all of us are to do the work of ministry (4:12-13), so that we will be united and mature as Church as we obey Christ more and more.

Everything we do is to be surrounded by prayer (6:18).

This September we are taking the opportunity to look again at what it means to be God's Church. Jesus is building His Church, and Christians have the amazing privilege of both being part of the building, and to help him build.
In particular, we are going to focus on what it means to be His Family committed to one another.

Join us on these Sundays to find out what life in God's Church is like:

Sunday 6th September 
Sunday 13th September
Sunday 20th September

The talks are put online on the Sunday afternoon - but if you're in Morecambe nothing beats meeting God's people and hearing His Word together on a Sunday morning!