The Church Defined

The Church Defined # 21 - The Bride of Christ Click here for the Audio Version -   The Bride of Christ Luke 21:36 , “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." (NIV) In the Epistles, the symbolism of marriage is used to explain the relationship between Christ and the Church. We read in Ephesians 5:25-27 , “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it. He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle—holy and without faults.” (GW) The imagery depicts Christ as the bridegroom, who not only loved the church but sacrificed His life for her. He is also coming again to reclaim His bride, whom He expects to be glorious, holy and without blemish. Revelation 19:7-9 , refers to the

The Church Defined # 20 – Influencers Click here for the Audio Version -   Influencers Matthew 5:13 , “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (ESV) Jesus’ analogy of salt was an extremely profound one. A huge jar of unused salt will benefit no one. However, even a little salt added to any dish will make a big difference to it’s taste. The presence of salt will not go unnoticed, so also it’s absence. If salt loses its saltiness it will become totally useless. Jesus referred to us as the ‘salt of the earth’ to help us understand that we the church are chosen to be a godly influence in this world. While we are happy to congregate as ‘salt’ somehow, we have failed to let this saltiness penetrate into every area of our lives and various spheres of society. Jesus cautions us that if we become ‘tasteless,’ we los

The Church Defined # 19 – Disciple Makers Click here for the Audio Version: Disciple Makers Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (NKJV) The mandate to ‘make disciples’ of all nations, has to a large extent, become the Great Omission in the Great Commission. The directive of Jesus is not to make ‘converts’ but to make ‘disciples.’ According to Wikipedia, “A disciple in biblical terms is one who is a dedicated follower of Jesus. A disciple in the ancient biblical world actively imitated both the life and teaching of the master. It was a deliberate apprenticeship which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master.”   Luke records in Luke 6:12-16 , that Jesus prayed all night before He chose His twelve disciples. Note how Mark 3:14-15 explained this: “Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out

The Church Defined # 18 – The Church’s First Love Click here for the Audio Version: The Church's First Love Revelation 2:4-5 , “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (NKJV) As the Lord addressed the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 we realize that there were a lot of good qualities about that church. They labored hard for the work of the Lord, were patient, persevering, they tried and tested false apostles, and they didn’t grow weary in serving the Lord. The only indictment that the Lord held against them was that they had forsaken their first love, and this, the Lord considered a serious flaw.  The early church exemplified and exhibited this love for the Lord in myriad ways. It was this boundless love they had for the Lord that displayed itsel

The Church Defined # 17 - A Witnessing Community Click here for the Audio Version:   A Witnessing Community Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. The early church took the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus, as mentioned in Matthew 28:19-20 , most seriously. Acts 1:8 records Jesus’ instruction to them: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV). On the day they received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, when Peter stood up to preach, 3000 people were added to the church. (Acts 2:41) . After the day of Pentecost, the disciples were such a mighty witness that the Gospel spread like wild fi

The Church Defined # 16 Church Leadership Click here for the Audio Version :  Church Leadership Acts 20:28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with His own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders." (NLT) One of the very important aspects of the church is it’s leadership. These leaders as mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 , include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The primary role of a leader in the church is to be the shepherd of the flock that God has entrusted to them. Peter explains this in 1 Peter 5:2-3 , “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;” (NKJV) The greatest example of leadership was demonstrated by the Lord Jesus who said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gi

The Church Defined # 15 - A City on a Hill Click here for the Audio Version: A City on a Hill Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (NKJV) Jesus declared in John 9:5 , "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” However, Jesus also reminded his disciples in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world." We therefore, as the body of Christ, have a two-fold responsibility. Firstly, to walk with Jesus, who is the light, and secondly, to be those who will shine His light to the world around us. 1 John 1:5-9 says it this way, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son c

The Church Defined # 14 Gifted to Serve Click here for the Audio Version:  Gifted to Serve 1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (NKJV) All of us are born with some sort of natural talent that has been given to us by God. Depending on the kind of family we were raised in, the environment and other factors, these are well developed in some individuals but remain hidden or unknown in others. These talents could range from sport, art, music, cooking, writing, photography etc to name a few.  However, for a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, apart from these natural talents, we have been bestowed with spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit. These gifts are distributed to each one as the Holy Spirit determines (1 Corinthians 12:11) , and they are given for the common good of all (1 Corinthians 12:7) . These gifts differ from person to person, and they are given to us not based on

The Church Defined # 13 - A Kingdom of Priests Click here for the Audio Version: A Kingdom of Priests Revelation 1:6: “He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” (NLT) In the Old Testament the Levitical priesthood began with Aaron. This priesthood continued on with the descendants of Aaron, who were specifically chosen to be mediators between God and man. The main duty of the priests was to offer sacrifices that were required by the Mosaic Law. However, we read in Hebrews 7:11 that perfection could not be attained through the Levitical priesthood, and therefore Jesus came as the Great High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 4:14-15 explains further, that Jesus was the Great High Priest who passed through the heavens and can sympathize with us because He too was tempted in all points, just like we are, and yet was without sin.  By his sacrificial death for us on the cross, Jesus has t

The Church Defined # 12 - Family of God For the Audio Version, click here:  The Family of God In John 1:12,13 we read, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (ESV) Most of us are privileged to belong to a family, where we both experience and share love.   Sadly however, there are those who have been deprived of this blessing because they were orphaned or abandoned. Nonetheless, the good thing is, many of us have the opportunity to have our own families, whom we love and cherish. There is another family that all of us can be part of. Those of us who have made Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives (as stated in John 1:12 ) are part of this larger family, which is the family of God. In this spiritual family, God becomes our Father, we become His children and other believers become our brothers and sisters.

The Church Defined # 11 - All are Welcome For the Audio Version, click here: All are Welcome Romans 15:7 “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” (ESV) The church is the body of Christ and our portals should be wide open for all to enter. One of the major accusations that the religious leaders had against Jesus, was that He mingled and dined with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus’ reply to them was categorical in Matthew 9:13 : “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (NKJV) Jesus was outspoken about His mission which He spelt out clearly in Luke 19:10 , “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” (NLT) When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sins, He did something amazing. We read in Ephesians 2:14 , “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separate

The Church Defined # 10 A Sharing Community For the audio link, click here:  A Sharing Community Acts 4:32 , “ The whole group of believers lived in harmony. No one called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything.” (GW) Something spectacular happened in the early church to the multitude of people who got converted by the apostles’ preaching.   In one accord they gave up what was rightfully theirs, had everything in common, sold their properties (land and houses) laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet and there was no one in the church who lacked anything.   No wonder then, that there was great power when the apostles witnessed about the resurrection of Jesus, and God’s tremendous grace rested on all of them. (Acts 4:32 -35) In the book of Acts there is special mention of Barnabas who made donation by selling the land he owned, Dorcas who was always doing good and helping the poor, Cornelius, a centurion whose almsgiving had come up as a

The Church Defined # 9 - Gathering of Believers Click here for the Audio Version:  Gathering of Believers Hebrews 10:24-25 , “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (NLT) One of the aspects of our Christian faith that is unique, is our gathering together as a community of believers to worship God. The early church excelled in this, for we read in Acts 2:46 , “They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity.” (NLT) We also read in Acts 20:7 , “On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.” (NLT) There are several reasons why we come together as believers. The Lord assures us in Matthew 18:20 , “Where two or three have come together in m

The Church Defined # 8 Temple of God For the Audio Version, click here: Temple of God 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Don't you know that your body is a temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit, whom you received from God, lives in you. You don't belong to yourselves.” (GW) What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘Church’? To most of us it is a structure or a building, where we gather together for worship. In the Old Testament it was the tabernacle and later on the temple that was the central place of worship. However, in the New Testament, because of what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, the word ‘Church’ took on a new meaning. When Jesus shed His sinless blood, and had His body broken on behalf of the sins of the whole world, He became the Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), who entered the Holy of Holies. (Hebrews 10:19-21) . This was also the reason why the veil in the temple was torn in two,