The Purposes of the Church

I'm giving a talk tonight about the purposes of the church, and thought for those of you who won't be there I thought I'd post my speak up here so you can read it. It's for a combined youth event held at my church, and I hope it reads well enough as it's more less my manuscript this even.

. Introduction
b. This night is about who we (as the body of Jesus Christ) are. As we are even gathered together this evening, we are demonstrating in some way who we are and what we are supposed to do (or be). Our characteristics find their root and fruit (in other words, the reason or foundation and products of our efforts) in who God is and what he has done for us. You see it is not without certain reservations that we can even begin to approach the goal of identity and purpose. Therefore, I find it is necessary to talk about what the church must do. The true church is the household of God and includes all people groups. The church is to uphold the truth of the Gospel by teaching, guarding, proclaiming and demonstrating the truth of God.
c. Transition
i. On a Sunday in November 2008, hundreds of protesters who support same-sex marriage marched outside a church in southern California. They were there to protest the pastor’s appeal to his congregation to vote in favor of Proposition 8. Proposition 8 would amend the state constitution to legally define marriage as being between one man and one woman. The protesters believed that the church had no right to impose their moral beliefs and views on the greater society. Many view the beliefs of the pastor and church members on this issue as being hateful and discriminatory.
ii. Do the protesters have a good point? Do you think the pastor was right or wrong for encouraging his congregation to vote on this issue? Should the church simply concern itself with Christians and their views and behavior? Does the church have a role to play in issues that involve people of other diverse beliefs? If yes, what is that role?
iii. Tonight I would like to define and communicate to you what the main job of the church is.
. The Church is to Uphold the Truth
a. Illustration
i. Ephesus was an important city during NT times. One of the reasons for its importance was the presence of the temple of Artemis. The temple was huge! More than 400 ft long, 250 ft wide (bigger than the Pat’s football field) and 60 ft high! There were more than 100 massive stone pillars supporting its roof, and people would travel from all over the world to come and see it. The temple was built in honor of the Ephesus goddess Artemis, and thus the people came there to worship her and the temple was filled with gold and silver and other artwork for her honor, glory and fame.
b. But this temple was also a scene of protest. In Act 19, the apostle Paul had been preaching the truth of the gospel in and around Ephesus. Paul had been proclaiming that salvation is in Jesus Christ alone, and as a result, many people in and around Ephesus were turning away from idolatry and placing their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. This of coursed angered certain people and a riot breaks out as Paul declares that gods are not made by human hands. But the point that I am making here is that Paul had to confront the lie of Artemis worship, and by confronting the lie with truth a riot breaks out. Was it right for Paul to speak out like this? Should Paul just have minded his own business?
c. Read Acts 4:12- And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
d. Paul confronts this false religion of the time, because the result of their belief was deadly. For apart from the truth of the gospel, no one can be saved.
e. Transition
i. There was another temple during that time which Paul found it important to mention (Read 1 Tim 3:14-15). Paul writes these words to a young man named Timothy. Timothy lived in the city of Ephesus and probably walked by the temple of Artemis multiple times. Paul was writing to Timothy to give him instructions about this other temple in Ephesus. The temple is of course the church and he is not necessarily referring to an actual building, but what? A family. A family of God which included all those who trusted in Jesus alone for salvation. The family or household of God is all Christians, everywhere in the world, but also specifically those that live in a particular community: such as the believers in Ephesus.
ii. And these gathering of believers are to have a certain purpose in the world. What purpose is it? Well, look at verse 15. The church is a pillar of truth, and what does a pillar do? It upholds or supports something. So the church is to uphold the truth of the Bible. This is what Paul was doing in Ephesus. He was upholding the truth (Read 1 Tim 2:4-5 as another example of Paul upholding a particular truth of the gospel).
iii. My main point here is that the church is to uphold the Gospel of Jesus, and by upholding the truth we teach the truth.
. The Church is to Teach the Truth
a. (Read Titus 2:1) Doctrine is what the Bible teaches about a specific topic. Sound doctrine refers to true doctrine (i.e., the truth about what the Bible teaches). If God’s people are to know what the truth is, they must be taught that truth from one generation to the next. And most important doctrines for us to know, understand, believe, and teach are those concerning the Gospel.
b. On a side note, do you know what has to happen before the truth of the Gospel can be believed? God has to remove our blindness. In other words, he must enable us to see the truth (2 Cor 4:3-4, 6). This is why salvation is called a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9) for it is something that only God can do.
c. I think the main points of the Gospel are this
i. Jesus is fully God and fully man, and lived a sinless life (John 1:1, 14; 2 Cor 5:21).
ii. He is the only way to God (John 14:6).
iii. He died on the cross and received the punishment that we deserved (1 Peter 2:24; Matt 20:28; Matt 26:28) and then rose again (John 11:25).
iv. He has promised to forgive sin and grant eternal life for those who repent of their sin and trust in Him alone for salvation (Mk 1:15; Matt 26:28; Rom 6:23).
v. And salvation is a free gift from God, and cannot be earned through any merit or effort of our own (Eph. 2:8-9).
d. Transition
i. Therefore, in teaching the truth we guard the truth from outside threats.
. The Church is to Guard the Truth
a. (Read Titus 1:9) This verse was written specifically for the elders of the church, those responsible for leading, and they were commanded to guard the truth from any errors in its interpretation.
b. Illustration
i. When you kids, did any of you ever play the Telephone game? One person whispers a message into the ear of another person and then that person whispers it into the ear of the next and so on and so forth until you get to the final person and what should they be able to do? Say out loud what message they heard and see how messed up it got right? And sometime the two are not the same right? The reasons for such a difference are many, but sometimes there could be someone who just wanted to sabotage the game and purposefully tell someone the wrong message.
ii. Well, as God’s truth is taught form one person to the next it to can get changed and distorted if one is not careful enough to know and thus guard God’s truth from anyone who wishes to challenge it.
c. Transition
i. As we uphold, teach and guard the truth we also must proclaim the truth,
. The Church is to Proclaim the Truth
a. (Read 1 Peter 2:9) I think there are three ways in which the church can proclaim the truth:
i. Proclaim the truth back to God in worship (worship of God)
ii. Proclaim the truth to each other in the church (building up the body)
iii. Proclaim and demonstrate the truth to non-Christians (evangelism/missions)
b. Would it have been easier for Paul to have kept his mouth shut in Ephesus? Would it have been less disruptive to the city life if he would just quietly kept preaching to and within the church itself? Wouldn’t it have been easier for the pastor of the church in California to keep his views about marriage to and within the Church and not encourage his people to vote these views into state law?
c. (Read John 14:6) The church as the unique privilege of sharing the only way of salvation with others. The Gospel is of supreme value and proclaiming it is not always easy, but a privilege because the message of the Gospel is the most important message in the world!
d. Transition
i. As I mentioned, one of the ways that the church can proclaim the truth is by demonstrating it to non-believers.
. The Church is to Demonstrate the Truth
a. Read Phil 2:14-15 What does it mean to demonstrate the truth? Live a life as an obedient child of God. If you live out God’s truth, you will stand out as being different.
b. Conclusion
i. The true church is the household of God, every Christian, living out the truth of the Gospel. The church is the pillar of truth in a world that too often distorts the truth. Therefore, we are to uphold the truths of the Bible by teach it, guarding it, proclaiming it, and demonstrating it by living it out for the whole world to see, in hopes that others might come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.
ii. Let me encourage you to do the same. This is our calling, purpose and identity.