Church Teachings

I wanted to share some of the teachings that we have had the opportunity to share with the church here. Hope you are encouraged and challenged by them.

1. What is the Church?

In the greek, it means ekklesia, which translates to an assembly of people. So when talking about the Church, it means an assembly of people called out by the Lord. So the Church is not a building as we often refer to them. Those who have confessed Christ and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are the Church.

The first instance where the word church comes up in the Bible is Matthew 16:18. Jesus says that He will build His church on what Peter just said about Him and that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church. So a building cannot come against the gates of Hades but we as the Church can.

2. Church as a spiritual temple of people

We as individuals and as the Church are God’s Temple where He resides through His Spirit. Some passages that look at this concept are I Corinthians 3:16, Ephesians 2:19-22 and I Peter 2:4-5, which says, “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” As living stones we all have something to offer and contribute as we are being built up as a spiritual house with Christ as the cornerstone.

3. Church as the Body of Christ

This is seen in numerous passages throughout the New Testament. Two main passages are Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12. As the body, Christ is the Head and He is to lead and guide us. Since we are all apart of the same body, God sees us all as equals. One member is not more important than the other. I Corinthians 14:26, which says, “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” So when we meet as the Church, everyone is able to bring something to the meeting; whether it be a song, word of encouragement, testimony or prophecy.

4. We have all been given different abilities, ministries and gifts.

This is emphasized in Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 as well as Ephesians 4: 1-16. I Corinthians 12:4-6 tells us, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”

So a neat way to look at this passage is the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts, which are explained as you go on in chapter 12, the Lord Jesus gives us service or ministries and God, the Father, gives all men workings or natural abilities. Each part of the Trinity gives us different things and God is more than willing to give when we ask.

Ephesians 4:1-16- Five Ministries

This passage lays out five ministries that should be functioning in the body of Christ. Each member of the body most likely has a leaning towards one of these ministries and it’s a matter of discovering which ministry the Lord has given you. We’ve seen that the Lord Jesus gives us these different ministries and He is our ultimate example when it comes to these ministries since He embodied all of them during his ministry on earth.

1. Apostle – “One who is sent.” Jesus was sent by God as an Apostle (Heb. 3:1), then He sent forth 12 apostles (John 20:21), and even sent forth others at times during his earthly ministry (Luke 10:1). After Christ ascended, the Holy Spirit has sent forth apostles ever since (e.g. Acts 13:2; 2 Tim. 1:11). There are more than 20 men called apostles in the New Testament. So one who feels a calling from the Spirit to go out to establish churches is an apostle.

2. Prophet – Gives vision to the church, confronts sin, has a heart for prayer, usually speaks prophecies. Jesus is seen as an example of a prophet (Deut. 18:15-19) when He speaks to the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), when He overturned tables in the temple (Mark 11:15-17), predicts his death and resurrection (Mark 10:32-33); when He went off by Himself to pray and taught true prayer. A prophet is one whom God will reveal things to share with others.

3. Evangelist - “Announcer of Good News”; “Herald”. An evangelist has many of the same qualities as a prophet, but mainly to the lost. Jonah going to Nineva would be called an evangelist today (see Jonah). An evangelist generally has a passion for the lost, sometimes to the point on forgetting about ministering to the already saved. In many ways an evangelist is a prophet to the world.

4. Pastor - The word “pastor” in Greek means: “shepherd”, “tender of a flock or fold”. In John 10 Jesus shows that a true shepherd: is not a stranger to his sheep, finds nourishment for his flock, would give his life for his sheep, watches over the flock and makes sure wolves don’t eat them! Examples of Jesus as pastor: Jesus saw the needs of the 5,000 by feeding them physically (Luke 9:10-17), Jesus healed people, He did not come to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45), He washed the feet of his disciples (John 13). The ministry of pastor is not equivalent to the official “office” of a pastor – people can have a pastoral ministry and not be an official “pastor”, and likewise, people can be an official “pastor” without a pastoral ministry. One with a pastoral ministry cares for the needs of people both physically and spiritually; has a deep compassion for people.

5. Teacher - Teacher means: Instructor, Doctor, and Master. Example: Apollos (Acts 18:24-28). A teacher has a love of the truth (2 Thes. 2:10) and a love of the doctrine (1 Tim. 4:13) and Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15-16). A teacher has the ability to make things clear to the learner – Jesus taught in ways that the crowd could understand, mainly in stories and parables. A teacher is one who is able to expound the Bible to others as well as one who has a teachable spirit and whatever they learn they are able to pass it on to others.

*At times we are called to function in multiple ministries (II Tim. 1:11)

The spiritual gifts and natural abilities mentioned in I Cor. 12:4-11 and Romans 12:6-8 are needed to fulfill and enhance your ministry.

As stated in Ephesians 4:13-14, when these ministries are all functioning, the body of Christ has attained maturity. That has yet to happen so the Church today is overgrown infants. We have taken too long to reach maturity and the only way to move on is to function in the five ministries as a body working together. We do see these ministries around us, but much of it is abused or disconnected to other parts of the body. So discover and ask God what He has given you and what you have to offer to the body of Christ.

Too often we rely on one person to do all the work, but God has called all of us to be active in ministry. The formal church set up creates passivity in its members as only a few are able to function and the rest are only coming to receive when we all have something to give to the body of Christ. This is why we have been enjoying and are excited about this house church we have been a part of since it offers the opportunity for everyone to participate; people can share a song, testimony, teaching, and we can feel free to pray for one another as we meet together.