Belonging to the Church

Belonging to the Church
Belonging Series, Part 2

How the Bible defines the church is far different from what people would define the church. The Western concept of a church is Sunday morning with a few songs, offering and a sermon. The Bible never defines a church worship service. The Biblical definition of church is far from different from the institutional practices and traditions that people have created.

Bible Defintion
1. Church is an “Assembly.” The Greek word for church is “ekklesia’ which means called out ones, assembly, church.

Hebrews 15:25
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.

Matthew 18:20
 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

2. Church is people connected to Jesus

I Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3. Church is Different from the World

The word Holy means to be “separate, set apart, different.”

I Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

4. Church are Priests.

I Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

5. Church is Filled with Imperfect People

Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

ONE ANOTHER
The word “one another” or ἀλλήλων (allelon) is used 100 times in New Testament. Forty-eight times one another is related to the church. The church is people don’t do the DONT’S and do the DOS.

DONTs

Don’t grumble. (John 6:43; John 5:9)
If you bite and devour, don’t destroy one another. (Galatians 5:15)
Don’t be conceited, causing envy. (Galatians 5:26).
Don’t be proud, creating cliques. (Romans 12:16)
Don’t slander one another. (James 4:11)
Do not judge one another. (Romans 14:13)
Don’t be a stumbling block to others. (Romans 14:13)
Spouse, don’t deprive one another of physical intimacy. (1 Cor. 7:5)
Don’t lie to one another. (Co 3:9)

DOs
Love one another. (Hebrew 15:24; John 13:34, 15:12, 17; Romans 12:10, 13:8; 1 Thess. 3:12, 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11, 4:7, 11; 2 John 5)
Be of the same mind. (Romans 12:16, 15:5; Philippians 2:2)
Encourage one another to avoid sin, love, good deeds and to build each other. (Hebrew 3:13;10:24-25; 1 Thess. 5:11)
Accept one another. (Romans 15:7)
Peace with one another. (Mark 9:50)
Patient with one another. (Ephesians 4:2)
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another. (Ephesians 4:32)
Bear with one another. (Colossians 3:13)
Forgive one another. (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13)
Seek good for on another. (1 Thess. 5:15)
Confess sins to one another. (James 5:16)
Serve one another. (Gal 5:13)
Greet one another with a kiss of love (1 Peter 5:14; Romans 16:16; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12)
Prefer one another in honor (Romans 12:10)
Regard one another as more important than yourselves (Philippians 2:3)
Wash one another’s feet (John 13:14)
Associate with one another regardless of social standing (Romans 12:16)
Be subject to one another (Ephesians 5:21)
Clothe yourselves in humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5)
Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Speak truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25)
Comfort one another. (1 Thess. 4:18)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9)

Biblically speaking, the church is not a building or a Sunday morning worship service. The church is not a program. The church is people. People who avoid the DONTs of the Biblical ONE ANOTHERS and follow the DOs of the Biblical ONE ANOTHERS.