❖ Video
❖ Audio
Ekklesia
1 Corinthians 1:2, 12:12-20, Mark 3:31-35 Matthew 11:28-30
Andy Nagahara
A. What is a church?
1) A common misconception
2) Ekklesia (1Corinthians 1:2)
(1COR 1:2) To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ–their Lord and ours:
B. What is Your Church?
1) One part of the church that exists throughout the world (1Corinthians 12:12-20)
(1COR 12:12-20) The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
2) A big family (Mark 3:31-35, Matthew 28-30)
(Mark 3:31-35) Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
(Matthew 28-30) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Summary
The church is a community of people who have been called, existing to love the Lord Jesus Christ, to love one another, and to love the world that God created. The church is not a building or activities, or Bible study. Each of us is part of Your Church which is one part of the body of Christ with Jesus as the head.
For Discussion
1. What is church?
2. For what purpose does Your Church exist?