What About the Church?

Is it possible to be a Christian and not go to church?

Bad associations:
• Boring
• Clergy
• Denominations
• Buildings

It involves all of those things but it is none of those things.
It is exciting because it means people.

The bible gives us different ways of understanding the church by using different images/metaphors.

The People of God, 1 Peter 2, 9-10
YOU ARE A CHOSEN RACE, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN PURPOSE, THAT YOU MAY PROCLAIM THE EXCELLENCIES OF HIM WHO HAS CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS MARVELLOUS LIGHT. FOR YOU WERE ONCE NOT A PEOPLE, BUT NOW YOU ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD, YOU HAD NOT RECEIVED MERCY, BUT NOW YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY.
To be a Christian you have to have a relationship with God through Jesus. This is not just a vertical thing but a horizontal one as well; because when we become Christians we become part of a people, a community.
The marks of this community are that we meet together, worship and pray, take communion (remembering what Jesus has done for us, and also celebrating our life together in Him. ) and baptism – is the mark of being a member of the church. This signifies cleansing from sin, the Holy Spirit and our dying and rising with Christ. Three questions are asked – have you repented from all your sin? Have you renounced the devil and all his works? Do you confess Jesus as Lord?

There is only one church, though it has many different expressions. It is all God’s people who confess his name. The important factors are – a relationship with God through Jesus, and a belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are essential.

We call this the world-wide or universal church. The church in the West is declining, but the world-wide church is seeing remarkable growth. The church is still persecuted in some parts of the world. More people have died for their faith in this century than at any other time in church history. (China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Sudan)
The Third world church is seeing rapid growth, particularly in South America
It is estimated that one thousand eight hundred million people are Christians – that’s one third of the world’s population. And 100,000 people become Christians every day.

Why is the church in the West declining? It is in a very specific situation – secularisation, materialism – church and state.

We are part of something very big in the universal church, but the church also has smaller expression – and our experience of it is different in each case. The bible shows three gatherings, and you need all to experience church fully/as God intends.

Celebration – inspiration, vision, worship, faith building (Monthly Sunday eve)
Congregation – easier to make relationships (Sunday morning)
Community group – smaller – confidentiality, intimacy, accountability.

2 Family of God, 1 John 4. 19 – 5.1
We love because he first loved us. If someone says “I love God”, and hates his brother he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God who he cannot see. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Christianity is all about a family relationship. God is a trinity – God is our Father, which means we are brothers and sisters. If we love God, we love one another. When we come to Christ we are born into a family (you can choose your friends but not your family).
This is also the reason church might be a painful experience. People may have had a difficult family and be carrying the pain of rejection. They may have been hurt in relationships and so find it hard to trust leaders or accept authority. This is all very understandable but it does means we won’t get very far in our Christian life unless we allow God to heal us. The way God mostly heals us of relationship/family issues is to put us in relationship/family.

Jesus prayed that we might be one so the world might believe.
Our unity is that we have relationship with God through Jesus, and hold to the life, death, resurrection of Jesus as central to our faith.
Fellowship – signifies close relationship which is possible because it is the same spirit that dwells in all believers. You can have a difference of opinion with someone, but remain in fellowship with them. We have unity in our diversity.

We are told to build up, edify one another. And we are told to take very seriously praying for one another.

The three things Jesus prayed for his disciples and all who would come to believe in Him – were joy, protection and sanctification, unity and glory.
Because Christianity is all about relationship (and not easy) I would say it may be possible in theory to be a Christian outside of the community of the church, but in practice be very hard. It’s like coals in a fire – you take one out and it doesn’t glow for very long.

A. The Body of Christ, 1 Cor 12.12 (read)
We are the body of Christ and he is our head. If we are rightly related to the Lord, we know what our head is thinking and act accordingly. The body does what the head wants.
When Jesus ascended he changed bodies – we are now his body on the earth – the way that he has chosen to express himself. He is dependant on us and we are dependant upon one another. Just as a body may be able to function with parts missing it is not attractive, and doesn’t work as well – other parts have to compensate and take the strain. Also, it doesn’t look good to an observer.
It is not just the clergy (paid workers) but all are gifted by God to serve in the body. It is in coming together that we achieve something for God – because different people have different strengths, and to pull of event you need various kinds of people and personalities. In the Alpha course – you have people who have a gift in teaching, hospitality, evangelism, prayer.

To answer the question – what is the church – the answer is – you are. (Example man who rang a church to ask for help with someone who was in need and couldn’t get through. He ended up helping the man, by feeding him, giving him a place to stay himself. When he complained to the church leader and said – where was the church? The leader pointed to the man, who had in fact been church to this man – Jesus wants to dwell in us by his spirit and this is an individual thing. Jesus says in the Gospels whenever you help anyone in his name – you are also doing it to him.

B. Holy Temple, Ep 2 19-22 (read)
You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
We are called living stones, a building made of people, our foundations being the prophets and apostles. God’s presence is with his people, because God has chosen to dwell with people. When you love someone you want to be with them – photo’s, letters, phone calls are not the same, as being with that person.
In the OT God presence was in the temple, and forgiveness given through the blood of animal sacrifices. In the NT forgiveness is given through the shed blood of Jesus and when the spirit was poured out at Pentecost – people become the temple in which God dwells.

C. Bride of Christ, Ep 5, 25-27
Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her; that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.
Marriage is the analogy, for the love of Jesus for his people
And I saw the holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev 21.2)

What is our response for the love of Jesus for us?
1 Peter 2.9 – that you might declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Worship is the language of love (speaking to God)
Witness (speaking to others) is what you do if you love someone – you want to tell others.
To follow in the footsteps of the apostles – is to be an apostolic church. Apostles just means sent ones. As we go out we become a community.

Is it possible to be a Christian and not go to church?

You don’t go to church – you are church.

LET US HOLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE WITHOUT WAVERING, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL; AND LET US CONSIDER HOW TO STIMULATE ONE ANOTHER TO LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, NOT FORSAKING OUR OWN ASSEMBLING TOGETHER, AS IS THE HABIT OF SOME, BUT ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER, AND ALL THE MORE AS YOU SEE THE DAY DRAW NEAR.

Hebrews 10, 23-25