1. Assistance from What I have I done with the Church: Zondervan 2013 Pastor’s Annual

2. “We must not only think of the Church as an institution among institutions. We do great violence to scriptural teaching if we think of the Church in terms of its being a building with a street address and zip code. We need to recognize it as something more than just a body of believers banded together for worship and for mutual assistance.” (Zondervan)

3. The original meaning of the word Church from the Greek (from GracePeace.net by Thomas Mumbai) “The first mention of ‘church’ is found in Matthew 16: 18b. “On this rock I will build My church.” The word used for ‘church’ in Greek is ‘ekklesia’. ‘ek’ =out of; ‘kaleo’=to call. That means ‘out calling’. In everyday usage it meant ‘an assembly of people’. Especially a gathering of citizens called out from their home to a public place for a special purpose.” “Thus from the meaning of the original word ‘ekklesia’ we understand that Church is a group of people called out for a special purpose. Cf. Acts 15:14.”

4. The Church is the people of God Acts 2:40-47; 1 Pet 2:9 The Church is the body of Christ 1 Cor 12:13, 27 Christ is the head of the Church The Church is the body through which he functions and through which he continues his ministry/teaching and service in this world

5. The Church is the dwelling place of the Spirit 1 Cor 3:16 “Ye are the temple of God - This is to be understood of the community of Christians, or of the church, as being the place where God dwells on the earth…” (Barnes’ Notes) “Ye are the temple of God - The apostle resumes here what he had asserted in 1 Corinthians 3:9 : Ye are God's building. As the whole congregation of Israel were formerly considered as the temple and habitation of God, because God dwelt among them, so here the whole Church of Corinth is called the temple of God, because all genuine believers have the Spirit of God to dwell in them; (Clarke’s Commentary)1 “The expression must mean: (1) That the church is the seat of His operations, the field or abode on which He acts on earth; (2) That His influences are there, producing the appropriate effects of His agency, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc.; Galatians 5:22-23; It is with the help of the Holy Spirit that the Church continues to carry out the work of God today

6. Edification (preparing of the saints for service) The local Church when completely organized will have elders Their function is to feed and oversee the flock Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1-2 As they carry out their responsibilities, the Church is built up (edified)

7. The activities of our worship are designed to edify Singing is designed to exhort and admonish, as well as praise God Eph 5:19; Col 3:16 Preaching and teaching are certainly designed for the edification of the hearers As each one in the Church does his part, the end result is growth through edification in love Eph 4:15-16

8. The responsibility of benevolence (Providing for the needy saints) The early Church cared for its members The Church of Jerusalem cared for its own (Acts 4:32- 37) The Church at Antioch provided for their brethren in Judea (Acts 11:27-30) The Churches of Macedonia and Achaia provided for their brethren in Jerusalem (Rom 15:25-26)

9. The organization of the early Church and its worship accommodated the work of benevolence Deacons were appointed (Php 1:1; 1 Tim 3:8-13) They served the congregation If the seven selected in Acts 6 were prototypes of the work of deacons, they would certainly serve in providing assistance for widows and other needy members (Acts 6:1- 6) The collection for the needy saints was made a part of the weekly assembly ( 1 Cor 16:1-2)

10. There were limitations to this benevolence In Paul’s instructions to Timothy (1 Tim 5:9-16) Widows with believing family members were not to be supported Their own families were to support them so the Church wasn’t burdened Examples of Church benevolence are limited to needy saints In every instance where money was taken from the Church treasury, the recipients were believers in need (Rom 15:25-26; 1 Cor 16:1-2; 2 Cor 8:1-4; 9:1) Of course, individually Christians are expected to be “Good Samaritans” and help those in the world as they have opportunity and ability The implication is that the local Church was not intended to be a social agency to cure all social ills in the world. It has neither the organization nor resources to do so

11. The responsibility to evangelize the world The early Churches were involved in evangelism They sent out preachers to spread the word in new places (Acts 13:1-3) They provided support for such preachers (2 Cor 11:8-9) This is consistent with what the Lord expects His disciples were told to go and make more disciples (Mt 28:19-20) His people are to proclaim the praises of God (1 Pet 2:9-10) Among the gifts He gave to His Church was the function of “evangelists” (Eph 4:11)

12. Have you related yourself to the Church as a vital part with love and gratitude to the Lord of the Church? Have you conducted yourself in a manner that would leave the impression that you despised the Church and had no love at all for it (see 1 Cor 11:22)? Have you neglected the Church and forsaken its services of worship and opportunities for study (Heb 10:24-25)?

13. There are a number of positive responses that each of us can make to the Church We can renew or deepen our conviction of the importance of the Church to the work of God and to the good of the people Each of us can renew our consecration to the work of the Lord in and through the Church Perhaps each of us needs to reexamine the expenditure of our energy in the Church and concentrate more on the work our Lord designated for the Church All of us can reaffirm our determination to be cooperative and contributing members of the congregation in which we hold membership